Ovary insufficiency linked to higher chances of autoimmune disorder

New Delhi: Women whose ovaries have prematurely stopped producing eggs are over 2.5 times more likely to have an autoimmune disorder, such as rheumatoid arthritis and hyperthyroidism, according to a study.

This finding could help in analysing the biological processes that lead to development of the ovary-linked condition in different autoimmune conditions, the researchers said.

Premature ovarian insufficiency is a condition in which malfunctioning ovaries have stopped producing eggs in women younger than 40 years. The menstruation cycle becomes irregular and then stops, and some can experience menopausal symptoms. About 1 to 3.5 per cent of women around the world are estimated to be affected, according to previous studies.

Using health insurance records, researchers, including those at the University of Oulu in Finland, followed nearly 20,000 women, about 4,000 of whom were diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency between 1988 and 2017. Diagnoses of autoimmune diseases between 1970 and 2017 were included in the analysis.

An autoimmune condition is one in which the body's immune system mistakenly starts attacking healthy tissues.

Among the 4,000 affected women, the researchers found that the risk of autoimmune conditions ranged from nearly double for over-active thyroid glands (hyperthyroidism) to about 26 times for polyglandular autoimmune diseases -- rare conditions of the hormone or endocrine system.

“The prevalence of having at least one severe autoimmune disease in women with premature ovarian insufficiency was 5.6 per cent, with (a likelihood) of 2.6 when compared to (the general population)," the authors wrote in the study published in the journal Human Reproduction.

Further, women having no autoimmune diseases at the time of being diagnosed with the ovary-related condition were found to be nearly three times more likely to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in the following three years.

The risk decreased but still remained significantly higher than in the general population during the follow-up period of at least 12 years, the researchers said.

The findings significantly strengthened the hypothesis that autoimmune processes play a "pivotal role" in the onset of premature ovarian insufficiency, they said.

“These findings reflect the fact that the association between premature ovarian insufficiency and severe autoimmune diseases is strong and that these women have long-term risk for autoimmune conditions,” lead researcher Susanna Savukoski, a gynaecologist and obstetrician at Oulu University Hospital, said.

“Severe autoimmune diseases typically manifest with significant symptoms and can have very unfavourable effects on general health, functional ability and quality of life. Luckily, there are good medication options available for many of these conditions," Savukoski said.

Future research could look at the biological processes of how the ovary-linked condition develops in different autoimmune conditions, the researchers said.