Introduction: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) frequently develop metabolic complications. Among the newly found factors responsible for metabolic disorders, adropin seems to be of a great significance.
Material and methods: In total 134 women aged 17-45 years were enrolled. The PCOS group consisted of 73 women, diagnosed on the basis of Executive Committee of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology - American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ESHRE-ASRM) criteria. All PCOS women presented phenotype A of PCOS. The control group consisted of 61 women with regular menstrual cycles, matched for nutritional status. All women underwent anamnesis, physical examination, anthropometric measurements, abdominal and transvaginal ultrasound, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Serum adropin levels were determined by ELISA. Biochemical [fasting glucose and insulin, oral glucose tolerance test, lipid and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG)] and hormonal (testosterone, androstenedione, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone and oestradiol) measurements were performed. Insulin resistance indices [(Homeostasis Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), Quantitative Insulin Sensitivity Check Index (QUICKI), Matsuda] and free androgen index (FAI) were calculated according to the standard formula.
Results: Serum adropin levels were lower in the PCOS group (0.475 ± 0.200 vs. 0.541 ± 0.220, p = 0.069), but the results were not statistically significant. Positive correlations among adropin and androstenedione levels were observed in the PCOS group (r = 0.27, p = 0.025).
Conclusions: Women with PCOS have a different metabolic profile in comparison to women without this syndrome. We did not observe a statistically significant difference in adropin concentration between the PCOS and the healthy control group. Therefore, more studies regarding adropin in PCOS are needed.
Keywords: adropin; metabolic syndrome; polycystic ovary syndrome.