Study finds causal relationship between Insomnia and reproductive diseases including PCOS, endometriosis and ovarian cysts

Insomnia is increasingly emerging as a significant concern in public health, with a longstanding emphasis on its relationship with overall well-being. Nevertheless, few research has been devoted to investigating the relationship between insomnia and female reproductive health. The study conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study to estimate the causal relationship between insomnia and female reproductive diseases. A total of 268 independent genetic variants associated with insomnia at the genome-wide significance level (P < 5× 10− 8) were used as instrumental variables. Summary-level data were obtained from the UK Biobank and Finn Gen study, including ovarian cysts, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), ovarian cancer (OC), uterine fibroids, endometrial cancer (EC) and female infertility. We performed logistic regression to assess the associations between insomnia and the risk of OC and EC by using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013– 2014.

Results: The research reveals that genetic liability to insomnia constitutes a risk factor for ovarian cysts, PCOS, and endometriosis. However, we found no statistically significant associations between insomnia and POI, OC, uterine fibroids, EC, or female infertility. Additionally, body mass index (BMI) was found to mediate about 10% of the effect of the insomnia on ovarian cysts and PCOS. Moreover, in cross-sectional study, insomnia was not associated with OC and EC. The study provides causal evidence that genetically predicted insomnia increases the risk of ovarian cysts, PCOS, and endometriosis. Accordingly, the potential significance of weight control and good sleep in keeping fit need to be emphasized.

Reference:

Fang L, Wang Y, Wang R, Fang Y, Xie Y, Yang S, Liu S, Zhang Y. Insomnia and Female Reproductive Diseases: A Cross-Sectional and Mendelian Randomization Study. Int J Womens Health. 2025;17:439-447. https://doi.org/10.2147/IJWH.S498231

Keywords:

causal relationship, Insomnia, reproductive, diseases, PCOS, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, Mendelian randomization, insomnia, ovarian cysts, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, Fang L, Wang Y, Wang R, Fang Y, Xie Y, Yang S, Liu S, Zhang Y. Insomnia, Female Reproductive Diseases