Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome is a syndrome of ovarian dysfunction. Oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial cell activation are thought to play concomitant roles in the pathogenesis of the above diseases particularly in the development of atherosclerotic lesions.
Research design and methods: We studied 58 polycystic ovary syndrome patients and age-matched 25 healthy controls consisting of women that have regular, ovulatory cycles and normal androgen levels. Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance for this study was taken as 1.75 that is the upper level of confidence interval of %95 of the mean of the healthy group. PCOS patients were divided into two groups as for below the cut-off level (<1.75) and above the cut-off level (> or =1.75). hs-CRP, fibrinogen, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and disulfide level results were compared both in PCOS and control groups.
Results: In this study, sensitive CRP was found to be statical significantly higher in polycystic ovary syndrome groups whose Homeostasis Model Assessment-Insulin Resistance were > or =1.75 and <1.75 when compared to the control group. But, no significantly correlation was determined between malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and disulfide levels and CRP elevation.
Conclusions: In our study, because those participants were young and non- obese patients with PCOS, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide and disulfide levels and Carotid Artery Intima-Media Thickness measurements as a pre-indicator of cardiovascular disease were not found to be different from those of the controls.