Exploring the Link between Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, Insomnia and Circadian Pathways.

Objective: To establish an interaction network for genes related to premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and insomnia, and to identify biological processes that connect POI to the physiological clock.

Methods: Previously reported lists of genes associated to POI and insomnia were contrasted and their intersection was used as input on protein-protein interaction analyses. POI-associated genes were contrasted with gene expression markers for neural circadian control and enriched pathways among their shared content were dissected.

Results: The functional network generated from the intersection between POI and insomnia gene lists pointed to the central nervous system as the most relevant cellular context for this connection. After identifying POI-associated genes that play a role in neural circadian patterns, we observed the disruption of pathways related to the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis as the major genetic link between ovarian function and circadian neural circuits.

Conclusions: These findings highlight neurological mechanisms that support the POI-insomnia interplay.