Marrow adipose tissue is increased in overweight and obese women with PCOS independently of hyperandrogenism related obesity and metabolic disorders

Li Xu; Min Min; Xintong Li; Glen M Blake; Kaiping Zhao; Xiangyan Ruan; Xiaoguang Cheng

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1168806

Marrow adipose tissue is increased in overweight and obese women with PCOS independently of hyperandrogenism related obesity and metabolic disorders

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jun 9:14:1168806. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1168806. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Li Xu¹, Min Min^{2

3}, Xintong Li¹, Glen M Blake⁴, Kaiping Zhao⁵, Xiangyan Ruan³, Xiaoguang Cheng¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China.
² Department of Gynecology, Aviation General Hospital, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Gynecological Endocrinology, Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁴ Biomedical Engineering Department, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Department of Medical Record Management and Statistics, Beijing Jishuitan Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the increase in bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and its relationship with hyperandrogenism, obesity, and metabolic disorders.

Methods: The study included 87 overweight or obese women with PCOS (mean age 29 ± 4 years), as well as 87 age-matched controls recruited from a separate population study. All PCOS patients were measured for anthropometric features, abdominal adipose tissue areas, BMAT, biochemistry, and sex hormones. BMAT was compared between the PCOS patients and controls. In PCOS patients, subgroup comparisons of BMAT and its associations with body adiposity indices, biochemistry, and sex hormones were analyzed. The odds ratios (ORs) of elevated BMAT (defined as BMAT ≥ 38%) were calculated.

Results: On average BMAT was increased by 5.6% ( ± 11.3%) in PCOS patients compared to controls. BMAT were significantly higher in the upper tertiles of total cholesterol (TC) and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C). BMAT was not correlated with abdominal adiposity indices or biochemistry except for LDL-C (r = 0.253-0.263, p = 0.014-0.018). LDL-C was not significantly different between the normal and abnormal androgen PCOS subgroups (p = 0.10-0.887). LDL-C, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and total testosterone (TT) were risk factors for elevated BMAT, with ORs of 1.899 (p = 0.038-0.040), 1.369 (p = 0.030-0.042), and 1.002 (p = 0.040-0.044) for each unit increase, respectively.

Conclusion: BMAT was increased in overweight and obese PCOS patients, but the increase in BMAT was not associated with the hyperandrogenism related obesity or metabolic disorders.

Keywords: bone marrow adipose tissue; hyperandrogenism; metabolic syndrome; obesity; polycystic ovary syndrome.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue / metabolism
Adult
Bone Marrow / metabolism
Cholesterol, LDL
Female
Humans
Hyperandrogenism* / complications
Metabolic Diseases* / complications
Obesity / complications
Obesity / metabolism
Overweight / complications
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome* / complications
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome* / metabolism

Substances

Cholesterol, LDL

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China [No. 2020YFC2004902], the Beijing Hospitals Authority Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support [No. ZYLX202107], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 81771831, 2018], and the High-Level Talents “Discipline backbone” Project of Beijing Jishuitan Hospital [No. XKGG2021123].