Scientists in New Zealand have identified a gene that may be involved in three quarters of cases of premature menopause in women under 25. The team, based at the University of Auckland, studied DNA samples taken from 43 women who underwent the menopause before the age of 40, and found that three had an altered version of a gene involved in hormone regulation. The results are published in the latest issue of the journal Human Reproduction.

Premature menopause, also known as premature ovarian failure (POF), affects one per cent of women under 40, and one in 1000 women under 30. The researchers found that three women in the study, who had undergone the menopause at the ages of 16, 20 and 24 respectively, all had an altered version of the inhibin alpha gene. Team leader Dr Andrew Shelling said the results suggest that inhibin and a pathway of cooperating genes may be at fault in POF, especially in very young women.

Dr Ingrid Winship, another member of the team, said that the first women to benefit from a new test for POF would be those with a family history of the condition. These could account for between 10 and 30 per cent of all POF cases, she said, adding that screening younger women family members would help them to plan their families.

The researchers are now studying other genes involved in female hormone regulation, and their possible involvement in polycystic ovarian syndrome and ovarian cancer, as well as POF.