Published online Feb 15, 2020. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v11.i2.42
Peer-review started: July 1, 2019
First decision: August 2, 2019
Revised: November 27, 2019
Accepted: December 14, 2019
Article in press: December 14, 2019
Published online: February 15, 2020
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is insulin-resistant and strongly associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes in women. Early detection of insulin resistance (IR) could prevent these complications. There is no consensus regarding methods to predict IR in women with PCOS. Some structural body components have been evaluated in relation to IR in PCOS, and IR seems to be independent. In this article we tried for a new easy detectable marker for IR in women affected by PCOS.
We tried to develop a new easy marker for IR in women with PCOS to improve the diagnosis of IR in Sub-Saharan African women.
Our aim was to assess the wrist circumference in women affected by PCOS and living in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in relation to IR using the Homeostasis Model Assessment as a biological reference marker.
This study was a prospective case-control study performed from October 2015 to December 2016 in Kinshasa. Seventy-two women with PCOS and 71 controls were enrolled. Parametric and non-parametric statistical test have been used where appropriated. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS statistical software (version 16.0).
In this study we have found a significant difference for the Ferriman-Gallwey (F-G) score between the women with PCOS and controls as well as for insulinaemia and HOMA-IR (P <0.001). A strong correlation between the dominant WrC, non-dominant WrC, WC, BMI, Weight, WHtR and WHR have been found. The Receiver-Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, showed that the non-dominant wrist circumference has a 72% chance of predicting the presence of IR in women with PCOS.
In the present study for the first time, we showed that the non-dominant wrist circumference is both, a marker of IR, and the best anthropometric marker known, to date for the assessment of IR in women with PCOS.
This article could open new perspectives between IR and bone homeostasis in women with PCOS.