Metabolites (Jul 2021)

Urinary Metabolites Reveal Hyperinsulinemia and Insulin Resistance in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

  • Anna Maria Fulghesu,
  • Cristina Piras,
  • Angelica Dessì,
  • Claudia Succu,
  • Luigi Atzori,
  • Roberta Pintus,
  • Cecilia Gentile,
  • Stefano Angioni,
  • Vassilios Fanos

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo11070437
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 7
p. 437

Abstract

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The identification of insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is not a minor issue. The homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index (HOMA) is the most used index of IR (Insulin Resistance), validated in overweight and obese patients but not in normal-weight PCOS subjects, who can still present with increased insulin secretion by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The evaluation of insulin secretion and resistance represents a still unresolved problem. The aim of this study is to identify a possible yet noninvasive method to properly evaluate the insulin metabolism in young non-diabetic subjects. Girls aged 14–22 years, afferent to the center of Gynecological Diseases in Childhood and Adolescence of Cagliari (Italy), were screened for PCOS. A total of 42 subjects comprised the study group. Hormonal assays, OGTT, transabdominal (TA) or transvaginal (TV) US, and urine collection for 1H-NMR analysis were assayed in the early follicular phase. A 1H-NMR coupled multivariate statistical analysis was performed. The OPLS model indicated that the NMR profile of urine had a good fit and prediction ability for the AUC OGTT with R2 = 0.813. Metabolomics can be a promising tool to the potential identification of biomarkers of an exaggerated insulin response to OGTT and can encourage substantial progress for a more accurate and early diagnosis in PCOS.

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