Abstract: Multiple factors of heritability and environment conjointly participate in the pathomechanism of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The complicated manifestations of PCOS could be related with the epigenetic modification, and the detailed mechanism needs more studies. The epigenetic modifications related to the development of PCOS include DNA methylation, X chromosome inactivation, histone modification, genomic imprinting, non-coding RNA regulation, and so on. For example, those miRNAs expressed abundantly in ovarian tissue play important roles in regulating ovarian function, which participate in multiple biological events including cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and cell death. To explore the effect of epigenetics in the pathogenesis of PCOS can provide us new references for the basic research and clinical practice of PCOS in future.

Key words: Polycystic ovary syndrome, Epigenesis, genetic, DNA methylation, Genomic imprinting