The prevalence of non organ specific and thyroid autoimmunity in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is commonly associated with endocrine, metabolic, cardiovascular and other morbidities. However its association with autoimmune diseases is still controversial.

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of non organ-specific and antithyroid, antibodies in PCOS women compared to healthy controls.

METHODS

The study included 152 women with PCOS and 76 healthy controls for the evaluation of non organ-specific autoimmunity and 64 PCOS and 68 controls for the study of organ-specific autoimmunity. All sera were tested for autoantibodies.using the ELISA method.

RESULTS

There were no significant differences in the prevalence of ANA, SSA, SSB, anti-dsDNA, anti-RNP, ANCA/MPO or ANCA/PR3 between PCOS and controls. The prevalence of ACLA IgG was higher in controls than PCOS (5.4% v.s. 0%, P=0.011). Patients had a higher prevalence of anti-TPO antibodies (18.75% v.s. 7.35%, P=0.045) and slightly but not significantly higher prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis (18.75% v.s. 10.29%) than controls.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of non organ-specific autoantibodies in PCOS women is low and similar to controls. On the other hand, we found a slightly higher prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in PCOS women.