Author(s): Richa Lath, Reshakiran Shendye, Aniruddha Jibhkate
Objectives: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex heterogeneous condition, having multifactorial etiology, with contributions from genetic, endocrine, metabolic and environmental factors. Women with PCOS present most frequently with complaints of infertility, menstrual irregularity, hirsutism, acne or alopecia, alongside various metabolic derangements such as obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension. These metabolic derangements might predispose women with PCOS to earlier onset of cardiovascular diseases. So the study was undertaken to compare various biochemical parameters between women with PCOS and age matched healthy controls. Method: Total 80 women diagnosed with PCOS were investigated for fasting plasma glucose, serum insulin, Insulin resistance (homeostasis model assessment, HOMA-IR), and lipid profile parameters and compared with 40 apparently healthy women. Cases of PCOS were divided in two groups based on BMI: PCOS with BMI 18.5 – 24.99 kg/m2 and PCOS with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. Results: Serum insulin levels and HOMA-IR values were significantly (p<0.05) higher in PCOS women than controls. Total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were also significantly (p<0.05) higher in PCOS women. High density lipoprotein (HDL-C) levels were significantly lower in POS group. Conclusion: PCOS, thus, being a multifaceted disease, raising awareness of the risk factors amongst the high risk population and applying targeted screening to identify those at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, along with appropriate interventions to curb these parameters before the appearance of cardiovascular disease, would go a long way towards attenuating the devastating complications of the disease.