Polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the commonest endocrine disorder in women and typically presents during adolescence. The clinical and biochemical presentation is heterogeneous, but elevated serum concentrations of androgens are the most consistent biochemical abnormality and may be considered to be the hallmark of the syndrome. Many women with PCOS also have insulin resistance and hyperinsulinaemia, which may contribute to the clinical and endocrine abnormalities. The aetiology of PCOS is not clear but studies in the Rhesus monkey suggest that exposure to excess androgen during intrauterine life results in many of the features of human PCOS, including ovarian dysfunction, abnormal LH secretion and insulin resistance.

To review the studies from the literature, including those of the author, regarding aetiology, presentation and management of PCOS in adolescents.

We have proposed that PCOS in adolescents arises as a result of a genetically determined disorder of ovarian function that results in hyper-secretion of androgens, possibly during fetal life and also during physiological activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian in infancy and at the onset of puberty. There is plentiful evidence for a genetic basis for PCOS (it appears to be a complex endocrine disorder resulting from the effects of a several genes), but environmental factors, notably nutrition, influence the clinical and biochemical phenotype. Obesity unmasks or amplifies symptoms, endocrine and metabolic abnormalities. The increasing incidence of childhood obesity has resulted in an alarming Increase not only in distressing symptoms but also impaired glucose tolerance and even diabetes among adolescent girls with PCOS. The search for PCOS genes in this condition, that is not only heterogeneous but also presents only in women of reproductive age, is not straightforward and has produced few convincing candidates so far. In due course, however, identification of the major susceptibility loci is likely to provide key insight into the aetiology of the syndrome and improve diagnosis and management.