Objective: Adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and obesity can have insulin resistance, dysglycemia, and hepatic steatosis. Excess pancreatic fat may disturb insulin secretion and relate to hepatic fat. Associations between pancreatic fat fraction (PFF) and metabolic measures in PCOS were unknown.
Methods: This secondary analysis included 113 sedentary, nondiabetic adolescent girls (age = 15.4 [1.9] years), with or without PCOS and BMI ≥ 90th percentile. Participants underwent fasting labs, oral glucose tolerance tests, and magnetic resonance imaging for hepatic fat fraction (HFF) and PFF. Groups were categorized by PFF (above or below the median of 2.18%) and compared.
Results: Visceral fat and HFF were elevated in individuals with PCOS versus control individuals, but PFF was similar. PFF did not correlate with serum androgens. Higher and lower PFF groups had similar HFF, with no correlation between PFF and HFF, although hepatic steatosis was more common in those with higher PFF (≥5.0% HFF; 60% vs. 36%; p = 0.014). The higher PFF group had higher fasting insulin (p = 0.026), fasting insulin resistance (homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, p = 0.032; 1/fasting insulin, p = 0.028), free fatty acids (p = 0.034), and triglycerides (p = 0.004) compared with those with lower PFF. β-Cell function and insulin sensitivity were similar between groups.
Conclusions: Neither PCOS status nor androgens related to PFF. However, fasting insulin and postprandial lipids were worse with higher PFF.
© 2021 The Obesity Society.