Objective: The etiology and pathophysiology of PCOS are yet be clearly explained as the disease has a heterogeneous clinical presentation. Several cytokines produced by the ovary and other tissues contribute to the maintenance of a chronic inflammatory state and metabolic imbalance in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The present study aims to widen the scientific scope concerning the association between the inflammatory state and PCOS through the measurement and evaluation of several inflammatory markers.
Material and Methods: Forty-nine medication-naive PCOS patients and 39 healthy controls were enrolled in this case-control study. Blood samples were obtained for the measurement of inflammatory markers.
Results: COX-2, IL-12, IL-18, IL-23, Krüppel-like factor-4, PPAR-gamma, SIRT and TLR-2 were found to be significantly higher in the PCOS group compared to the healthy controls. There were no significant differences regarding these inflammatory markers when overweight and normal weight PCOS women were compared (p > 0.05). ROC curve analysis revealed that the following cut-off values had satisfactory sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of PCOS:5.9 ng/ml for COX-2, 22.3 pg/ml for IL-12, 32 pg/ml for IL-18, 57 pg/ml for IL-23, 203 pg/ml for Krüppel-like factor-4, 2.54 ng/ml for PPAR-gamma, 2.9 ng/ml for SIRT, and 2 ng/ml for TLR-2.
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that these inflammatory markers might be used to identify patients with PCOS with high sensitivity and specificity. Our results support the consideration that the low-grade inflammation observed in women with PCOS is likely intrinsic to the pathophysiology of the disease.
Key words: Polycystic ovary syndrome, low-grade inflammation, interleukins, cyclooxygenase-2, Krüppel-like factor-4,
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