Opposing effects of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and free testosterone on metabolic phenotype in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
In studying the association of adrenal and ovarian androgens with metabolic parameters in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, distinguishing between adrenal and ovarian hyperandrogenism is important to evaluate metabolic risk.
Authors
Elisabeth Lerchbaum, M.D., Verena Schwetz, M.D., Albrecht Giuliani, M.D., Thomas R. Pieber, M.D., Barbara Obermayer-Pietsch, M.D.
Vol 98, Issue 5, Pages 1318-1325.e1
Abstract
Objective:
To study the association of adrenal and ovarian androgen levels with metabolic parameters in a large cohort of PCOS women.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Outpatient clinic of an academic hospital.
Patients:
Six hundred twenty-two women with PCOS.
Interventions:
None.
Main outcome measures:
Analysis of the association of endocrine dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and free testosterone (FT) parameters with metabolic measurements.
Results:
In multivariate adjusted logistic regression analyses, OR for insulin resistance was significantly higher (4.42 (2.26-8.67)) for PCOS women with elevated FT levels compared to women with normal DHEAS and FT levels (reference group). We found no significant differences when PCOS women with elevated DHEAS or a combined elevation of DHEAS and FT levels were compared to the reference group (p>0.05). PCOS women with high DHEAS/FT-ratios had a more beneficial metabolic profile compared to women with low DHEAS/FT-ratios. In multivariate adjusted binary logistic regression analyses, we found a significantly lower risk for insulin resistance in PCOS women in the highest DHEAS/FT-ratio quartile compared to PCOS women in the lowest quartile (OR 0.35 (0.14-0.89)).
Conclusions:
Our results suggest that the distinction between adrenal and ovarian hyperandrogenism is important when evaluating metabolic risk in PCOS.
Read the full text at: http://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(12)01792-X/fulltext
