Premature menopause that robs teenagers and young women of their fertility could be due to a mutated gene, scientists said on Thursday.

Researchers at New Zealand's University of Auckland have identified a gene, called inhibin alpha, that is mutated in women with premature menopause, a condition also known as premature ovarian failure (POF).

"We think that mutations in the inhibin alpha gene may be responsible for premature menopause in very young women, but that more subtle changes in gene function could cause premature menopause in the older women," one of the researchers, Dr Andrew Shelling, said in a statement.

The scientists, whose research is published in the latest edition of the journal Human Reproduction, found the mutated gene in seven percent of 43 women with POF but in only 0.7 percent in a matched control group.

While most women go through the menopause around the age of 50, all of the women with the mutated gene lost their fertility between the age of 16 and 24 years old.

The findings could have important implications, because more women are delaying motherhood until their 30s or later.

Although the research is preliminary and must be backed up with further studies, the scientists believe the inhibin alpha sets off a genetic chain reaction that plays a role in premature menopause.

"To verify our findings there needs to be more good biochemical research and population studies from different parts of the world with ethnically matched controls," said Shelling.

"If that research also turns out to be significant, then we will definitely have identified a new molecule involved in premature menopause and possibly other reproductive disorders."

The finding could also lead to a diagnostic test to determine which women are likely to have an early menopause.

"That could lead to new treatments in the future, either by replacing the defective inhibin molecule through some form of hormone replacement therapy or possibly even by gene therapy," Shelling added.

(From ChinaDaily)