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The ovarian dysgenesis syndrome

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2011

G. M. Buck Louis ,
M. A. Cooney  and
C. M. Peterson
G. M. Buck Louis*
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology, Statistics & Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Rockville, MD, USA
M. A. Cooney
Affiliation:
Division of Epidemiology, Statistics & Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Rockville, MD, USA
C. M. Peterson
Affiliation:
Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: G. M. Buck Louis, Division of Epidemiology, Statistics & Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, 6100 Executive Blvd., Room 7B03, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. (Email louisg@mail.nih.gov)
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Abstract

New thinking has arisen about the origin of adult onset diseases stemming from a collective body of evidence commonly referred to as the developmental origins of health and disease. This conceptual paradigm posits that certain adult onset diseases arise during critical or sensitive windows of human development or even transgenerationally. The testicular dysgenesis hypothesis (TDS) postulates an in utero origin for adverse male reproductive outcomes, and is an excellent example of the early origins of the paradigm. Despite similarities in the development of the male and female reproductive tracks, noticeably absent is a collective body of evidence focusing on the plausibility of an early origin for gynecologic outcomes and later onset of adult diseases. Using the TDS paradigm, we synthesized the available literature relative to the ovarian dysgenesis syndrome (ODS), which we define as alterations in ovarian structure or function that may manifest as fecundity impairments, gynecologic disorders, gravid diseases or later onset adult diseases. We evaluated environmental exposures, particularly the role of endocrine disrupting chemicals, in relation to these outcomes, and found evidence (although fragmented) consistent with an in utero origin of gynecologic outcomes, which in turn is associated with later onset of adult diseases. The findings are interpreted within the ODS paradigm while delineating methodological challenges and future research opportunities designed to answer critical data gaps regarding the origin of fecundity, gravid health and chronic diseases affecting the female population.

Keywords

early originsexposomeovarian dysgenesis
Type
Themed Content: Role of Environmental Stressors in the Developmental Origins of Disease
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 2 , Issue 1: Including Themed Content: Role of Environmental Stressors in the Developmental Origins of Disease , 23 February 2011 , pp. 25 - 35
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2011 This is the work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States

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