GENETIC INSTABILITIES AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN CHILDREN BORN TO PCOS MOTHERS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex and frequent disorder with a heterogeneous clinical presentation varying throughout life. Children born to PCOS mothers are considered to be at risk for early insulin resistance, leading to development of PCOS and metabolic abnormalities in childhood and adolescence. Pregnant women with PCOS exhibit a significant increase in androgen concentrations during pregnancy, which could provide a potential source of androgens to the foetus, and is perhaps another mechanism to explain the higher prevalence of low birth weight newborns in PCOS mothers. Thirty five children born to polycystic ovarian syndrome mothers were selected as study subjects and 20 children born to normal mothers were selected as control for this study. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the genetic instabilities and oxidative stress, if any, in children born to PCOS mothers. The oxidative stress biomarker malondialdehyde (MDA) value and the micronuclei frequency was significantly elevated in study subjects as compared with that of control subjects. The data indicate that DNA damage and susceptibility of DNA to oxidative stress are increased in children born to PCOS mothers. This suggests that oxidative stress may be one of the important causes for abnormal endometrial environment with poor embryo receptivity in PCOS patients.