Integrative metabolomics and machine learning reveal the toxic mechanisms of elaidic acid in polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by reproductive dysfunction and metabolic disturbances, including obesity, insulin resistance, and dyslipidemia. Dietary trans fatty acids, particularly elaidic acid (EA), have been implicated in metabolic disorders, but their role in PCOS pathogenesis remains unclear.

METHODS

A letrozole combined with high-fat diet induced PCOS rat model was established to evaluate EA accumulation using serum metabolomics. We identified common genes linked to EA exposure and PCOS using WGCNA and differential expression analysis. Machine-learning models were applied to screen key genes. GSVA and CIBERSORT were used to assess pathway activity and immune infiltration. In vitro, human granulosa-like KGN cells were exposed to EA (0-50 μM) to assess direct ovarian-cell responses, including cell viability, apoptosis, and inflammatory and key-gene mRNA expression. Molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations examined EA-protein interactions.

RESULTS

EA levels were markedly elevated in PCOS rats and accompanied by ovarian lipid deposition and metabolic dysregulation. Integrated analyses identified five key EA and PCOS related genes (KDM5A, CDK5, MTHFD1, NDUFB11, POLR1C). Machine-learning models confirmed their predictive value. GSVA revealed enrichment of inflammatory pathways such as JAK/STAT and Notch, while immune-cell profiling showed altered NK cells and macrophage subsets. In vitro, EA exposure significantly reduced KGN cell viability at higher concentrations and increased apoptotic fractions, accompanied by upregulation of IL6 and TNF-α and a modest increase in IL1B; EA also increased KDM5A expression while decreasing CDK5, MTHFD1, NDUFB11, and POLR1C, consistent with the direction of the integrative predictions.

CONCLUSIONS

EA accumulates in PCOS under high-fat dietary exposure and may exacerbate ovarian dysfunction by disrupting energy metabolism and promoting inflammatory activation, with concordant changes observed across serum metabolomics, transcriptomic integration, immune-infiltration analyses, and in vitro cell responses. These findings highlight EA as a potentially important dietary-derived toxic metabolic factor contributing to PCOS pathophysiology.