The Limited Diagnostic Utility of Metabolic and Inflammatory Indices in Adolescent Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Case-Control Study.

Background

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and diagnostic utility of metabolic and systemic inflammatory marker indices in adolescent patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Methods

This retrospective case-control study included 63 adolescent girls diagnosed with PCOS, based on the strict presence of both menstrual irregularity and hyperandrogenism, and 63 healthy controls matched for age and body mass index (BMI). Fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FI), and lipid profiles were measured. Metabolic indices, including the Triglyceride-Glucose (TyG) index, Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR), and Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR), as well as systemic inflammatory indices (Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index (SII), Systemic Inflammation Response Index (SIRI), and the Aggregate Index of Systemic Inflammation (AISI)), were calculated. The diagnostic performance of these markers was evaluated using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and binary logistic regression analyses.

Results

No statistically significant difference was observed between the PCOS and control groups in terms of age and BMI (p > 0.05). FBG levels (p = 0.001) and the TyG index (p = 0.028) were found to be significantly higher in the PCOS group. However, no significant differences were observed between the groups in terms of other metabolic indices (HOMA-IR, METS-IR) and systemic inflammatory markers (SII, SIRI, AISI). In the ROC analysis, only the TyG index demonstrated statistically significant but weak discriminatory power for PCOS (AUC = 0.614; 95% CI: 0.515-0.712; p = 0.028). Furthermore, binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the TyG index was not an independent predictor of PCOS after adjustment.

Conclusions

While early metabolic signals such as elevated FBG and TyG index were detected, the evaluated systemic inflammatory indices did not demonstrate significant differences. However, the weak discriminatory capacity of the TyG index and the failure of other composite indices restrict their clinical utility. Therefore, these biomarkers cannot be recommended as reliable standalone diagnostic tools in adolescent PCOS.