Table 1. Study subject characteristics.
| Reference range | Control (n = 20) | PCOS (n = 24) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| median | IQR | median | IQR | p-value | ||
| Age | 32 | 12.0 | 27 | 5.9 | 0.003** | |
| Body mass index | 18.5–25.0# | 22.3 | 4.10 | 24.9 | 11.75 | 0.147 |
| Waist to hip ratio | < 0.85# | 0.80 | 0.063 | 0.82 | 0.077 | 0.439 |
| Fasting glucose (mmol/l) | < 7.0† | 4.5 | 0.50 | 4.7 | 0.59 | 0.209 |
| 2h glucose (mmol/l) | < 11.1† | 4.3 | 1.09 | 4.8 | 1.15 | 0.296 |
| AUC glucose (mmolh/l) | § | 10.2 | 4.52 | 10.9 | 3.61 | 0.273 |
| Fasting insulin (pmol/l) | 20.9–173.8 | 41.4 | 51.08 | 84.4 | 55.25 | 0.022* |
| 2h insulin (pmol/l) | § | 129 | 140.0 | 188 | 336.7 | 0.371 |
| AUC insulin (mmolh/l) | § | 353 | 427.3 | 691 | 562.0 | 0.009** |
| HOMA2-IR | < 2.0 | 0.8 | 1.05 | 1.7 | 1.20 | 0.027* |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/l) | < 5.2 | 4.6 | 0.64 | 4.5 | 1.13 | 0.699 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/l) | > 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.42 | 1.7 | 0.49 | 0.006** |
| Triglycerides (mmol/l) | < 1.65 | 0.59 | 0.248 | 0.74 | 0.242 | 0.010* |
| Follicle-stimulating hormone (IU/l) | 0.5–61.2‡ | 9.2 | 8.11 | 7.5 | 2.73 | 0.178 |
| Luteinizing hormone (IU/l) | 2.0–22.0‡ | 5.8 | 9.34 | 9.3 | 8.60 | 0.042* |
| LH:FSH ratio | § | 1.2 | 1.19 | 1.5 | 1.06 | 0.035* |
| Anti-Muellerian hormone (pmol/l) | 1.4–65.2 | 26.8 | 22.42 | 61.1 | 52.59 | 0.0002*** |
| Total testosterone (nmol/l) | 0.37–2.1 | 1.1 | 0.56 | 1.3 | 0.77 | 0.002** |
| Dihydrotestosterone (nmol/l) | § | 0.34 | 0.241 | 0.46 | 0.528 | 0.096 |
| Androstenedione (nmol/l) | 0.89–7.5 | 2.6 | 1.61 | 4.2 | 2.69 | 0.0003*** |
| Dehydroepiandrosterone (nmol/l) | § | 13.7 | 11.37 | 21.4 | 12.40 | 0.015* |
| Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (μmol/l) | § | 3.3 | 3.74 | 4.9 | 2.35 | 0.073 |
| Estrone (pmol/l) | § | 274 | 184.8 | 195 | 118.9 | 0.138 |
| 17-Estradiol (pmol/l) | § | 436 | 285.8 | 163 | 181.1 | 0.0005*** |
| Free androgen index | § | 1.3 | 0.68 | 3.1 | 2.75 | <0.0001*** |
| Free testosterone (pmol/l) | § | 10.6 | 5.86 | 20.9 | 13.00 | <0.0001*** |
| Free dihydrotestosterone (pmol/l) | § | 1.3 | 1.03 | 3.0 | 2.19 | <0.0001*** |
| # of cases | % of cases | # of cases | % of cases | p-value | ||
| Polycystic ovarian morphology | 0 | 0 | 22 | 96 | <0.0001*** | |
| Hirsutism | 1 | 5 | 11 | 46 | 0.003** | |
| Oligo-/Amenorrhoea | 1 | 5 | 17 | 71 | <0.0001*** | |
| High carbohydrate diet | 8 | 40 | 9 | 38 | 0.555 | |
| High animal protein diet | 12 | 60 | 15 | 63 | 0.555 | |
| Adult-type hypolactasia | 5 | 25 | 5 | 21 | 0.511 | |
AUC: area under the curve; HOMA2-IR: homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance; HDL: high-density lipoprotein.
#according to the World Health Organization,
†according to the American Diabetes Association,
‡depending on menstrual cycle stage,
§reference range not defined.