Increased plasma visfatin concentrations in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
To test the hypothesis that plasma visfatin concentrations will be higher in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) than in women without PCOS.


METHODS
Clinical study.


METHODS
University hospital.


METHODS
A total of 52 women were evaluated. Twenty-six had PCOS, and the remaining 26 were healthy women with regular menstrual cycles who served as control subjects.


METHODS
Plasma visfatin concentrations were analyzed with the use of RIA.


METHODS
Serum concentrations of FSH, LH, TSH, PRL, T, insulin, E(2), and visfatin.


RESULTS
Plasma visfatin concentrations were significantly higher in the PCOS group (336.8 +/- 50.2 ng/mL) than in the healthy control group (282.4 +/- 43.3 ng/mL). Logistic regression analysis indicated a significant association between odds ratio (OR) values of PCOS and visfatin levels (OR = 2.81; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.74-2.90), T (OR = 3.39; 95% CI, 2.85-4.16), and LH levels (OR = 3.49; 95% CI, 2.79-4.56). There was no correlation between plasma visfatin concentrations and T, insulin, and LH levels or age in either the PCOS group or the control group. We observed that plasma visfatin levels were positively correlated with body mass index in the PCOS group (r = 0.396, r(2) = 0.157) but not in the control group (r = -0.328, r(2) = 0.108).


CONCLUSIONS
Our data show that women with PCOS exhibit higher plasma visfatin levels than control subjects of similar body mass index. Further studies are required to clarify the etiology and effects of hypervisfatinemia in women with PCOS.
Chan
Te-Fu
TF
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Chen
Yi-Ling
YL
Chen
Hung-Hseng
HH
Lee
Chien-Hung
CH
Jong
Shiang-Bin
SB
Tsai
Eing-Mei
EM
D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000097:blood*
D016207:Cytokines; D054409:Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase; C085455:nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase, human