Endocrine Abstracts

Insulin resistance affects 50–70% of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence of insulin resistance by different methods in a single cohort of 63 PCOS patients diagnosed by the Rotterdam criteria.

Methods: Anthropometric measurement, examination and fasting blood tests were made on the 3–5th days of their periods. HOMA-IR (cut off >2.5) and QUICKI (cut off <0.357) was used to assess insulin resistance.

Results: Insulin resistant (IR) patients represented 48 and 65% of the cohort based on HOMA-IR (HIR) and QUICKI (QIR), respectively. Compared to insulin sensitive (IS) patients, IR patients were older (25.5±5 vs 30±6 years, P<0.05). The BMI was similar in the HIR (35.5±7.33 kg/m²) and QIR (33.15±7.81 kg/m²) and similar BMI was detected in IS patients according to HOMA (HIS, 25.7±4.74 kg/m²) or QUICKI (QIS, 25.18±4.53 kg/m²). Fasting glucose levels did not differ in betwen IR groups (HIR: 4.88±0.51; QIR: 4.88±0.53 mmol/l), but fasting insulin levels were higher in HIR (18.09±8.05 mIU/l) compared to QIR (15.64±7.78 mIU/l) patients. Lipid profiles and HbA1c did not differ significantly between IR groups. The LH:FSH ratio was higher in IR (HIR: 2.89±1.44, QIR: 2.73±1.55) than in IS groups (HIS: 2.11±1.12, and QIS: 2.38±1.21). Patients in IR groups had higher free androgen index (FAI) than IS patients (HIR: 8.64±6.4, QIR: 8.48±6.21, HIS: 6.34±4.4, and QIS: 5.47±3.17). OGTT was performed in 37 patients indicating neither diabetes nor IFG.

Conclusion: By using QUICKI we found more IR patient than with HOMA. Fasting insulin levels and BMI were lower in the QIR than in the HIR group. The FAI was similarly elevated in the IR groups, and was lowest in the QIS group. We suggest that QUICKI detects IR earlier than HOMA.