Metabolic profile in obese women with the polycystic ovary syndrome

Nine obese women with oligo- or ameno-rrhoea, all with clinical and endocrinological signs of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCO) were submitted to metabolic studies. Their mean weight was 96 kg and their mean plasma testosterone concentration was 3.5 nmol/l. A group of nine obese, regularly menstruating women of similar age and degree of obesity (mean body weight 102 kg) served as controls. Their mean testosterone concentration was 1.9 nmol/l. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and apolipoprotein (apo) A-I concentrations in plasma were significantly lower in women with PCO than in control women. Furthermore, in the whole group the testosterone level showed significant inverse relationships to HDL-cholesterol (r = -0.64; P less than 0.01) and apo A-I (r = -0.59; P less than 0.01). The lipoprotein lipase activity (LPLA) in adipose tissue was lower in the women with PCO than in the control group with levels similar to those found in adipose tissue in men. There was an inverse relationship between the testosterone concentration in plasma and LPLA in adipose tissue (r = -0.51; P less than 0.05). The fat cells were of similar size at different regions in the women with PCO but showed marked differences in the control subjects who had much larger cells at the femoral than the abdominal site. The results show that the hyperandrogenism in PCO affects adipose tissue LPLA which could explain the lower HDL cholesterol values in women with PCO.