Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: It is well known association between cardiovascular disease and PCOS. Approximately 17–43% of women with PCOS have hyperprolactinemia. Increased levels of prolactin often associated with an increased risk for thromboembolic events, but underline pathophisiological mechanism still unknown. The strong association between hyperprolactinemia and platelet aggregation is well known. Platelets play a key role in the development of atherothrombosis, a major contributor of cardiovascular events. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of platelet size that reflect to activity of the platelet. MPV is easily determined on routine hemogram analysis at a relatively low cost. Larger platelets with higher MPV values are hemostatically more reactive and produce higher amounts of the prothrombotic factor.We also investigated the relationships between serum PRL levels and MPV levels in subjects with PCOS.

Design/methods: We conducted consecutively subjects with PCOS who have higher prolactin levels (n=72) and who have normal prolactin levels (n=207) and subjects without PCOS (n=90).

Results: MPV levels were significantly higher in PCOS subjects with elevated prolactin levels compared to both in PCOS with normal prolactin levels and control groups (P<0.001). MPV levels were positively correlated with prolactin levels (r=0.387, P<0.001), free testosteron levels (r=0.135, P=0.010) and negatively correlated with platelet counts (r=−0.333, P<0.001). Furthermore, multiple regression analysis showed that prolactin levels were directly related to MPV levels (R²=0.239, β=0.354, and P<0.001).

Conclusions: In the present study we showed that increased prolactin levels cause increased MPV levels in PCOS and results of multiple regression analysis showed that prolactin levels were directly effected to MPV levels independent from other factors. This implies a higher risk of hypercoagulability and therefore an increased risk of future cardiovascular disease in pcos subjects wiht eleveted prolactin levels.