Source: Karolinska Institute
Summary: One in three women in Europe
inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neanderthals -- a gene variant
associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and
fewer miscarriages, according to new research.
One in three women in Europe
inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neandertals -- a gene variant
associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and
fewer miscarriages. This is according to a study published in Molecular
Biology and Evolution by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for
Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.
"The progesterone receptor
is an example of how favourable genetic variants that were introduced into
modern humans by mixing with Neandertals can have effects in people living
today," says Hugo Zeberg, researcher at the Department of Neuroscience at Karolinska
Institutet and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, who
performed the study with colleagues Janet Kelso and Svante Pääbo.
Progesterone is a hormone, which
plays an important role in the menstrual cycle and in pregnancy. Analyses of biobank
data from more than 450,000 participants -- among them 244,000 women -- show
that almost one in three women in Europe have inherited the progesterone
receptor from Neandertals. Twenty-nine percent carry one copy of the Neandertal
receptor and three percent have two copies.
Favourable effect on fertility
"The proportion of women who
inherited this gene is about ten times greater than for most Neandertal gene
variants," says Hugo Zeberg. "These findings suggest that the
Neandertal variant of the receptor has a favourable effect on fertility."
The study shows that women who
carry the Neandertal variant of the receptor tend to have fewer bleedings
during early pregnancy, fewer miscarriages, and give birth to more children.
Molecular analyses revealed that these women produce more progesterone
receptors in their cells, which may lead to increased sensitivity to
progesterone and protection against early miscarriages and bleeding.
The research was supported by the NOMIS
Foundation and the Max Planck Society
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