Association of ACE2, Insulin Resistance, and Other Parameters in Obese Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Patients Infected with COVID-19

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has a high predisposition to many cardiometabolic risk factors that increase susceptibility to severe complications of COVID-19 and also exhibit an increased likelihood of subfertility. Therefore, women with polycystic ovary syndrome may be disproportionately affected by this epidemic and its related consequences. The accumulation of extra body fat that has the possibility of affecting health is referred to as obesity, which is the outcome of an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure, whereby more calories are consumed than are expended through exercise. This study investigated the relationship between angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 and insulin resistance and other parameters in PCOS patients with COVID-19 infection. The study groups comprised 120 sample ladies, involving 80 PCOS patients with and without COVID-19 and 40 control ladies. The leading group of patients was divided into subgroups based on BMI. Blood samples were taken from Kamal-Al-Samarai Hospital between December 2021 and June 2022. Some biochemical parameters were measured for all study groups, which included serum ACE2, D-dimer, lipid profile, GST activity, FBS, and hormones. PCOS women had a higher BMI, FBS, lipid profile (except high-density lipoprotein), D-dimer, waist/hip ratio, testosterone, insulin, and HOMA-IR (p < 0.0001). While GST-activity and ACE2 levels were lower in PCOS (p < 0.001), suggesting that PCOS women are at risk for cardiovascular diseases, In the current research, we found there is a probable relationship between ACE2 and HOMA IR in PCOS patients who have a coronavirus infection.

Keywords

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, COVID-19, D-dimer, insulin resistance, polycystic ovary syndrome