title: Cardiac autonomic modulation in polycystic ovary syndrome: does the phenotype matter?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess whether heart rate variability (HRV) at rest and during sympathetic stimulation is disturbed in patients with different polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotypes in comparison to healthy controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  University hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty women with classic, anovulatory PCOS, 16 women with ovulatory PCOS, and 23 age-paired women with regular and proven ovulatory cycles.
  
  
  METHODS
  Anthropometric and hormonal evaluation and analysis of HRV (time and frequency domain HRV indices) at rest and after a mental stress test.
  
  
  METHODS
  Difference between HRV components during rest and stress.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 22.80 ± 5.80 years in patients with classic PCOS, 19.81 ± 6.43 years in ovulatory PCOS, and 22.65 ± 5.89 years in controls. During mental stress, patients with classic PCOS showed lower HRV response when compared with the control group, even after adjustment for body mass index (BMI) and age. When patients with classic and ovulatory PCOS were considered together, total T levels were inversely associated with the low frequency component, low frequency/high frequency ratio, and the difference between high frequency response at rest and after the stress test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Young patients with the classic PCOS phenotype have an impaired autonomic modulation in response to sympathetic stimulation that is typical of considerably older women, or of advanced age.
authors.affiliation: Gynecological Endocrinology Unit, Division of Endocrinology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Kristhiane
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Di Domenico
authors.affiliation: Gynecological Endocrinology Unit, Division of Endocrinology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Denusa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wiltgen
authors.affiliation: Gynecological Endocrinology Unit, Division of Endocrinology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fabian J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Nickel
authors.affiliation: Division of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Magalhães
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ruy Silveira
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.affiliation: Gynecological Endocrinology Unit, Division of Endocrinology, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil; Laboratory of Molecular Endocrinology, Department of Physiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil; National Institute of Hormones and Women's Health, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Porto Alegre, Brazil. Electronic address: spritzer@ufrgs.br.
authors.forename: Poli Mara
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Spritzer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000294:innervation* / Q000502:physiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult