Tripathy P, et al. – The purposes of this study are to assess the abdominal fat distribution and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and to ascertain the independent risk factors for subclinical atherosclerosis. While age can be an independent baseline risk factor for subclinical atherosclerosis in normal menstruating women, excess visceral fat accumulation is the most vital predictor of atherosclerosis in PCOS patients.

Methods

• In this study, total 124 women with PCOS were compared with 118 age and BMI–matched controls.
• Abdominal obesity was evaluated as the waist–to–hip ratio (WHR) and abdominal fat distribution was measured as the subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT), pre–peritoneal fat thickness (PFT) and visceral fat thickness (VFT) utilizing Ultrasound (US).
• Markers of subclinical atherosclerosis (carotid intima–media thickness (CIMT) and brachial artery flow–mediated dilation (FMD)) and other CVD risk factors such as fasting glucose, fasting insulin (FIN), insulin resistance (HOMA–IR), androgens and lipid levels were measured.

Results

• In comparison to controls, PCOS women had increased VFT and subclinical atherosclerosis.
• PCOS women also had higher FIN and lower levels of high–density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL–C) and an elevated total cholesterol (TC) to HDL–C ratio.
• In PCOS women, VFT demonstrated a strong relationship with CIMT and WHR demonstrated a strong relationship with FIN and HOMA–IR; however these associations were weak in controls.
• Multiple regression investigation uncovered VFT as the strongest independent predictor of CIMT in PCOS women whereas age was the only independent predictor of CIMT and FMD in controls.