Role of androgen-mediated enhancement of erythropoiesis in the increased body iron stores of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether androgen excess contributes to the increased body iron stores of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) by stimulating erythropoietic activity, by measuring serum soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) concentrations and its ratio to ferritin levels in patients with PCOS, as surrogate markers of erythropoietic activity and of the appropriateness of cellular iron demands for the total body iron contents, respectively.

DESIGN

Case-control study.

SETTING

Academic hospital.

PATIENT(S): One hundred-four patients with PCOS and 100 controls without androgen excess.

INTERVENTION(S): Blood sampling and oral glucose tolerance test.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Serum sTfR and ferritin concentrations, as well as indexes of androgen excess, inflammation, obesity, and insulin and glucose metabolism.

RESULT(S): Serum ferritin levels increased in women presenting with PCOS, obesity, and/or abnormal glucose tolerance, but these disorders did not influence sTfR concentrations. The sTfR/ferritin ratio decreased with obesity and abnormal glucose tolerance, and its logarithm correlated inversely with body mass index, free T, and C-reactive protein levels and directly with the insulin sensitivity and disposition indexes. A stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that the changes in the insulin sensitivity index explained 7% of the variability of the logarithm of sTfR/ferritin ratio.

CONCLUSION(S): Increased serum ferritin levels in patients with PCOS are associated with a reduction in insulin sensitivity but do not result from a putative enhancement of erythropoiesis by androgen excess.