Serum irisin concentrations in lean adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome

Flora Bacopoulou; Nikos Athanasopoulos; Vasiliki Efthymiou; Aimilia Mantzou; Leon Aravantinos; Spiros Vlahopoulos; Efthymios Deligeoroglou

doi:10.1111/cen.13555

Serum irisin concentrations in lean adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2018 Apr;88(4):585-591. doi: 10.1111/cen.13555. Epub 2018 Feb 12.

Authors

Flora Bacopoulou^{1

2}, Nikos Athanasopoulos³, Vasiliki Efthymiou¹, Aimilia Mantzou², Leon Aravantinos⁴, Spiros Vlahopoulos¹, Efthymios Deligeoroglou³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Adolescent Medicine and UNESCO Chair on Adolescent Health Care, First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece.
² Unit of Clinical and Translational Research in Endocrinology, First Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aghia Sophia Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece.
³ Division of Pediatric-Adolescent Gynecology and Reconstructive Surgery, Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aretaieion Hospital, Athens, Greece.
⁴ Ultrasound and Fetal Medicine Unit, Second Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Aretaieion Hospital, Athens, Greece.

PMID: 29368340
DOI: 10.1111/cen.13555

Abstract

Objective: To explore differences in irisin concentrations between lean adolescents with PCOS and age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched controls and examine the associations of irisin with core features of the syndrome.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Patients: Lean females with PCOS, aged 13-21 years.

Measurements: Physical, hormonal and sonographic assessment. Irisin concentrations were measured with ELISA.

Results: Participants included in total 39 sedentary females (mean ± SD; age 17.3 ± 2.1 years, BMI 20.7 ± 1.3 Kg/m² ), 23 adolescents with PCOS and 16 controls. Adolescents with PCOS compared to controls had significantly elevated concentrations of fasting serum irisin (mean ± SD; PCOS, 1.7 ± 1.0 μg/mL vs controls, 1.0 ± 0.4 μg/mL; P = .007), luteinizing hormone (LH), oestradiol, testosterone, Δ4-androstenedione, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, glucose, as well as free androgen index, Ferriman-Gallwey score and mean ovarian volume (MOV). For the total sample, circulating irisin was positively correlated with MOV (r = .332, P = .041), glucose (r = .428, P = .007), insulin (r_s = .369, P = .021) and HOMA-IR (r_s = .422, P = .007) and negatively correlated with QUICKI (r = -.329, P = .041). Follicle-stimulating hormone (B = 0.295, Beta = .342, P = .042) and MOV (B = 0.182, Beta = 0.821, P = .001) were positive predictors, and LH (B = -0.108, Beta = -0.523, P = .010) and testosterone (B = -0.431, Beta = -0.457, P = .032) were negative predictors of irisin concentrations, whereas irisin positively predicted fasting glucose (B = 0.262, Beta = 0.428, P = .007). In the PCOS group, irisin concentrations were positively correlated with HOMA-IR (r_s = .416, P = .048) but negatively correlated with LH (r_s = -.499, P = .015), testosterone (r = -.585, P = .003), free androgen index (r = -.426, P = .048) and Ferriman-Gallwey score (r = -.533, P = .015).

Conclusions: Irisin was associated with the adolescents' metabolic and reproductive characteristics and the hyperandrogenic phenotype of the syndrome. Much research is needed to ascertain mechanisms of elevated serum irisin in adolescent PCOS.

Keywords: irisin; lean adolescents; myokines; polycystic ovary syndrome.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Case-Control Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Fibronectins / blood*
Humans
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / blood*
Sedentary Behavior
Young Adult

Substances

FNDC5 protein, human
Fibronectins