Washington:
Variation in a gene involved in regulating cholesterol has been linked to infertility in women, a study shows.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, variation in a gene involved in regulating cholesterol in the bloodstream, which affects progesterone production in women, is linked to infertility in some women.
The researchers have developed a simple blood test to measure the variation in the gene but emphasized that there was no approved therapy yet to address the problem of infertility.
"Infertility is fairly common and a lot of the reasons for it are still unknown. Right now, the benefit of this research is in knowing that there might be a genetic reason for why some women have difficulty getting pregnant.
"In the future, we hope this knowledge can be translated into a cure for this type of infertility," said Annabelle Rodriguez, an associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.