IS SUBCLINICAL HYPOTHYROIDISM IN PATIENTS WITH POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME ASSOCIATED WITH BMI?

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the impact of body weight on the subclinical hypothyroidism observed in patients with PCOS.

METHODS

The study included 95 normal weight (Group-1) and 122 overweight or obese women (Group-2) with PCOS. The control group consisted of age and BMI matched healthy individuals and grouped as normal weight (n: 66, Group-3) and overweight or obese (n: 65, Group-4. Women with chronic disease such as overt thyroid dysfunction, late-onset adrenal hyperplasia, and diabetes were excluded from the study. Plasma glucose and lipid profile, thyroid hormones, insulin, FSH, LH, total testosterone, estradiol, progesterone and DHEA-S were measured.

RESULTS

While fasting glucose was similar, insulin and HOMA-IR were higher in Group-2 and Group-4 (p: 0.001). The groups were similar with respect to FSH, Estradiol, prolactine, DHEAS. While total testosterone and LH levels were higher (ptestosterone: 0,009), progesterone was lower in both PCOS groups (pprogesterone: 0.041). Free T3, free T4, thyroid antibodies were similar between the groups, but the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism was greater in Group-2 and -4 than in Group-1 and -3 (p: 0.044). TSH was only correlated with BMI (r: 0.122, p: 0.02).

CONCLUSION

The increased prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism in women with PCOS might be the result of increased BMI.