Background and objective: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) exhibit frequently risk factors that predispose to cardiovascular disease. Hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for this disease. The aim of this study was to know whether young women with PCOS have increased homocysteine levels. We also analyzed their possible relation with folate and vitamin B12 levels.
Patients and method: Thirty nine patients with PCOS were studied; (age: mean [standard deviation] 28.9 [5.8] years), and 39 healthy women similar in age. We evaluated in all of them: smoking, menstrual cycles, hirsutism, body mass index, metabolic syndrome and levels of homocysteine, lipids, glucose, creatinine, folate, vitamin B12, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH) and androstendione.
Results: Menstrual cycles, hirsutism, androstendione, LH levels and LH/FSH were higher, as we expected, in patients with PCOS. Moreover, patients had increased homocysteine (9.1 [2.1] vs 6.4 [1.8] micromol/L; p < 0.001) and glucose levels (99 [13] vs 88 [10] mg/dl; p < 0.001), a higher frequency of abnormal fasting glycemia (> 110 mg/dl) (23% vs 2.5%; p =.01) and lower folate levels (7.6 [3.7] vs 10.2 [3.6] ng/ml; p = 0.02). A multiple linear regression showed a negative association between homocysteine and folate levels (r2 = 0.05; p =.02).
Conclusions: Homocysteinemia is increased in women with PCOS, and it is negatively associated with folate levels.