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Androsterone glucuronide to dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate ratio is discriminatory for obese Caucasian women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Cho, Li Wei; Sathyapalan, Thozhukat; Kilpatrick, Eric S.; Keevil, Brian G.; Miller, Adrian G.; Coady, Anne M.; Ahmed, Lina; Atkin, Stephen L.

Authors

Li Wei Cho

Eric S. Kilpatrick

Brian G. Keevil

Adrian G. Miller

Anne M. Coady

Lina Ahmed

Stephen L. Atkin



Abstract

BACKGROUND: Androsterone glucuronide (ADTG) concentrations have been suggested as a marker of the effects of androgens at the target tissue level. As the mechanism for hyperandrogenemia in obese and nonobese polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may differ, this study compared the different androgen parameters in non-obese compared to obese women with PCOS, and in normal subjects. METHODS: Eleven non-obese and 14 obese women with PCOS were recruited and compared to 11 control women without PCOS. Total testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS), ADTG, and androstenedione were analysed using gold standard tandem mass spectrometry, and the free androgen index (FAI) was calculated. RESULTS: Total testosterone, ADTG and androstendione levels did not differ between non-obese (body mass index (BMI) ≤25 kg/m2) and obese PCOS (BMI >25 kg/m2) but all were significantly higher than for controls (p < 0.01). The ADTG to DHEAS ratio was significantly elevated 39 ± 6 (p < 0.01) in obese PCOS in comparison to non-obese PCOS and controls (28 ± 5 and 29 ± 4, respectively). The free androgen index (FAI) and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were significantly higher in obese PCOS compared to non-obese PCOS and controls (p < 0.01). DHEAS was significantly higher in the non-obese versus obese PCOS (p < 0.01). All androgen parameters were significantly lower and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) significantly higher in normal subjects compared to those with obese and non-obese PCOS. CONCLUSIONS: The ADTG:DHEAS ratio was significantly elevated in obese PCOS compared to non-obese PCOS and controls suggesting that this may be a novel biomarker discriminatory for obese PCOS subjects, perhaps being driven by higher hepatic 5α reductase activity increasing ADTG formation in these women.

Citation

Cho, L. W., Sathyapalan, T., Kilpatrick, E. S., Keevil, B. G., Miller, A. G., Coady, A. M., Ahmed, L., & Atkin, S. L. (2017). Androsterone glucuronide to dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate ratio is discriminatory for obese Caucasian women with polycystic ovary syndrome. BMC Endocrine Disorders, 17(1), Article 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-017-0177-3

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 11, 2017
Online Publication Date May 19, 2017
Publication Date May 19, 2017
Deposit Date Jun 3, 2017
Publicly Available Date Jun 3, 2017
Journal BMC Endocrine Disorders
Electronic ISSN 1472-6823
Publisher Springer Verlag
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 17
Issue 1
Article Number 26
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/s12902-017-0177-3
Keywords Polycystic ovary syndrome, Androsterone glucuronide, DHEAS
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/452002
Publisher URL https://bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12902-017-0177-3
Additional Information This is a copy of an open access article published in BMC Endocrine Disorders, 2017, v.17 issue 1.
Contract Date Jun 3, 2017

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© The Author(s). 2017

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.






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