Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis in polycystic ovary syndrome

Soulmaz Shorakae; Eveline Jona; Barbora de Courten; Gavin W Lambert; Elisabeth A Lambert; Sarah E Phillips; Iain J Clarke; Helena J Teede; Belinda A Henry

doi:10.1111/cen.13913

Brown adipose tissue thermogenesis in polycystic ovary syndrome

Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2019 Mar;90(3):425-432. doi: 10.1111/cen.13913. Epub 2019 Jan 7.

Authors

Soulmaz Shorakae^{1

2}, Eveline Jona¹, Barbora de Courten^{1

2}, Gavin W Lambert^{3

4}, Elisabeth A Lambert^{3

4

5}, Sarah E Phillips^{3

4}, Iain J Clarke^{5

6}, Helena J Teede^{1

2}, Belinda A Henry^{5

7}

Affiliations

¹ Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
² Diabetes and Vascular Medicine Unit, Monash Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ Human Neurotransmitters Laboratory, Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁴ Faculty of Health, Arts and Design, Iverson Health Innovation Research Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Department of Physiology, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Department of Physiology, Neuroscience Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
⁷ Department of Physiology, Metabolic Disease and Obesity Program, Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

PMID: 30548504
DOI: 10.1111/cen.13913

Abstract

Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with increased obesity with a greater propensity to weight gain and a lack of sustainable lifestyle interventions. Altered brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis is a potential contributor to obesity in PCOS. BAT activity and modulation have not been studied in PCOS. This observational study explored BAT thermogenesis and its associations in women with and without PCOS.

Participants and methods: Cutaneous temperature was recorded from supraclavicular (indicator of BAT activity) and upper arm regions using dataloggers (SubCue, Calgary, Canada) in a cross-sectional substudy, nested within a randomized control trial, of community-recruited premenopausal women with (n = 47, Rotterdam diagnostic criteria) and without (n = 11) PCOS.

Results: Complete temperature data were available in 44 PCOS (mean age: 30.0 ± 6.2, mean BMI: 29.3 ± 5.5) and 11 non-PCOS (mean age: 33.0 ± 7.0, mean BMI: 25 ± 3) women. Women with PCOS had lower supraclavicular skin temperature compared to controls overall (33.9 ± 0.7 vs 34.5 ± 1, P < 0.05) and during sleep (34.5 ± 0.6 vs 35.2 ± 0.9, P < 0.001). In the PCOS group, supraclavicular skin temperature overall and over sleep and waking hours correlated inversely with testosterone (r = -0.41 P < 0.05, r = -0.485 P < 0.01 and r = -0.450 P < 0.01 respectively). Testosterone levels explained approximately 15%, 30% and 20% of the variability in supraclavicular skin temperature overall and over sleep and waking hours in women with PCOS, respectively.

Conclusion: Women with PCOS have lower BAT activity compared to controls. BAT thermogenesis is negatively associated with androgen levels in PCOS.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01504321.

Keywords: brown adipose tissue; hyperandrogenism; obesity; sympathetic nervous system.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue, Brown / physiopathology*
Adult
Case-Control Studies
Female
Humans
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / blood
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / physiopathology*
Skin Temperature
Testosterone / blood
Thermogenesis*
Young Adult

Substances

Testosterone

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT01504321