Population Health, Clinical Support Division Western, Gungurra Building 68 Cumberland Hospital, Locked Bag 7118, Parramatta, BC NSW 2124, Australia.
Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2013 Jul 5;373(1-2):39-50. doi: 10.1016/j.mce.2013.01.001. Epub 2013 Jan 23.
The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine disorder characterised both by reproductive and metabolic disturbance, and is the most common cause globally of ovarian infertility. It is also a familial polygenic condition, linked genetically to both Type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. The striking evolutionary paradox of this prominent genetically-based condition, which impairs fertility, is that not only should it have diminished in prevalence, but it should have done so rapidly - unless there has been some form of balancing selection. The emerging discipline of evolutionary medicine can provide important insights into the causes and patterns of occurrence of common diseases such as PCOS. In this paper we review the impacts of PCOS on infertility, fecundability and lifetime reproductive success and then critically appraise published hypotheses about the evolutionary origins of PCOS and related conditions.
多囊卵巢综合征（PCOS）是一种复杂的内分泌紊乱疾病，其特征既有生殖障碍，也有代谢紊乱，是全球范围内最常见的卵巢不孕原因。它也是一种家族性多基因疾病，与 2 型糖尿病和代谢综合征在基因上相关。这种以基因为基础、显著影响生育能力的突出疾病存在一个明显的进化悖论，即它不仅应该减少，而且应该迅速减少——除非存在某种形式的平衡选择。新兴的进化医学学科可以为多囊卵巢综合征等常见疾病的病因和发病模式提供重要的见解。在本文中，我们回顾了 PCOS 对不孕、生育能力和终生生殖成功的影响，然后批判性地评价了关于 PCOS 及相关疾病进化起源的已发表假说。
