Figure 4.

Insulin responses basally and after a 40 g/m² oral glucose load in obese and lean PCOS women (black circles), ovulatory hyperandrogenic (HA) women (gray circles), and age- and weight-comparable ovulatory control women (white circles). Insulin responses are significantly increased only in PCOS women (P < 0.001 obese PCOS vs. obese HA and obese control; P < 0.01 lean PCOS vs. lean HA and control), suggesting that hyperinsulinemia is a unique feature of PCOS and not hyperandrogenic states in general. [Adapted from A. Dunaif et al.: Characterization of groups of hyperandrogenic women with acanthosis nigricans, impaired glucose tolerance, and/or hyperinsulinemia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 65:499–507, 1987 (34), with permission. © The Endocrine Society.]