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Correlation of Serum Visfatin Level in Non-obese Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Matched Control

  • General Gynecology: Original Article
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Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrinopathy affecting reproductive-age women. Visfatin, an adipocytokine, and insulin resistance (IR) marker in diabetes since PCOS and diabetes share insulin resistance as an etiological factor, this study aimed to investigate visfatin as a predictive marker for IR and hyperandrogenemia in non-obese PCOS women and test its correlation to other parameters. A cross-sectional study conducted at the University Hospital recruited 140 women, divided into two groups. Group I (70/140, study group) was PCOS patients’ diagnosis based on 2003 Rotterdam criteria and Group II (70/140, healthy controls). Both were aged, and body mass index (BMI) matched. After a detailed history and general examination, the clinical, demographic, biochemical, hormonal, and metabolic parameters were taken for comparison’s sake. PCOS patients were subdivided according to the clinical or hormonal evidence of hyperandrogenemia into two groups: those with hyperandrogenemia and those without. Higher serum visfatin was estimated in the PCOS group (4.4 ± 1.7) versus healthy controls (3.1 ± 0.7) ng/mL, P < 0.0001. Significantly higher visfatin was confirmed in hyperandrogenic PCOS versus non-hyperandrogenic PCOS women (5.69 ± 1.1 vs. 2.76 ± 0.51 ng/mL). A strong correlation was found between visfatin versus hemoglobin A1c and free androgen index (FAI); r = 0.784 and 0.624, respectively. BMI and free testosterone scored a modest correlation. BMI centiles’ correlation with serum visfatin revealed no significant effect on serum visfatin, P = 0.62. The ROC calculated visfatin cut-off value; 4.34 ng/mL with 51.4% sensitivity and 100% specificity, and a P-value < 0.001 in discriminating PCOS cases. In conclusion, a strong positive correlation of visfatin with insulin resistance, followed by FAI in PCOS cases irrespective of BMI, suggests the intimate relation of visfatin in PCOS pathophysiology among non-obese women. Further research is warranted to explore this association’s therapeutic and prognostic value.

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Data Availability

The data that supports the findings of this study is available from the University Hospital.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

SBP:

Systolic blood pressure

DBP:

Diastolic blood pressure

SHBG:

Sex hormone-binding globulin

FAI:

Free androgen index

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

FSH:

Follicular stimulating hormone

OGTT:

Oral glucose tolerance test

HDL cholesterol:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

LDL:

Low-density lipoprotein

HA1c:

Glycosylated hemoglobin A1c

PE:

Preeclampsia

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Al-Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriyah University, Baghdad, Iraq

    Alaa Ibrahim Ali & Wassan Nori

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  1. Alaa Ibrahim Ali
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  2. Wassan Nori
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Al: research idea, study design, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing. WN: manuscript writing, data analysis, scientific editing, and literature review. Manuscript writing was equally shared by both authors. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Alaa Ibrahim Ali.

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Ali, A.I., Nori, W. Correlation of Serum Visfatin Level in Non-obese Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Matched Control. Reprod. Sci. 29, 3285–3293 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-022-00986-z

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