[Clinical Study of the Impact of ACE I/D Gene Variation on the Clinical Parameters of Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between angiotensin Ⅰ-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) gene polymorphism and the genetic risks for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and to evaluate the impact of ACE I/D genotypes on clinical, hormonal, metabolic and oxidative stress parameters in patients with PCOS. METHODS: This was a retrospective case-control study involving a total of 1 020 PCOS patients and 825 female controls who visited the outpatient clinic of the Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University between 2006 and 2019. The ages of the subjects ranged between 17 and 44. The ACE I/D genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis. 667 PCOS patients and 527 controls were selected for an analysis of their genotypes and the hormonal, metabolic and oxidative stress parameters. RESULTS: The genotype distributions of the ACE I/D single nucleotide polymorphism was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both the PCOS group and the control group (all P>0.05), which was representative of the population. There were no statistically significant differences in genotype and allele frequencies between the PCOS and the control groups ( P>0.05). After adjusting for both age and body mass index (BMI), there was no statistically significant difference in clinical characteristics among all genotypes in either the PCOS group or the control group. In the PCOS group, compared with the II genotype subgroup, the ID genotype subgroup had lower luteinizing hormone (LH)/follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio, while the DD genotype subgroup had higher homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. Compared with the ID genotype subgroup, the DD genotype subgroup had lower serum sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) level, but higher total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels ( P<0.05). In the control group, II genotype subgroup had a higher level of total oxidant status (TOS) than that of the DD genotype subgroup. CONCLUSION: ACE I/D genetic polymorphism is not associated with risks for PCOS. The I/D variation of ACE gene may be related to insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia, hyperandrogenemia and oxidative stress in PCOS patients.

Body image satisfaction and self-esteem status among the patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Most previous research has focused on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) characteristics and their association with psychological disorders, such as anxiety and depression. OBJECTIVE: In the present study, our aim was to study whether PCOS characteristics are associated with several aspects of psychological well-being namely self-esteem and body satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 300 women with PCOS that was carried out in Kashan, Iran. Main outcome measures were the Body Image Concern Inventory (BICI) and the Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale and clinical information of PCOS. Major clinical PCOS features including obesity (BMI), excessive body hair (hirsutism score), acne, menstrual cycle disturbances and infertility. RESULTS: The findings of regression analysis indicated that infertile women had lower levels of self-esteem (=-0.11, p=0.049) and poorer body satisfaction (=0.121, p=0.036) compared with PCOS women without infertility. Furthermore, hirsute women experienced poorer self-esteem than women without hirsutism (=-0.124, p=0.032). Women with menstrual irregularities had higher body dissatisfaction (=0.159, p=0.005). Moreover, women with higher body mass index scores had poorer body satisfaction (=0.151, p=0.009) but were not associated with self-esteem. CONCLUSION: The emotional well-being of the patients presenting with the syndrome needs to be recognized more fully, particularly in relation to the low self-esteem, poor body image, and struggles with weight, menstrual irregularities, hirsutism and infertility. The results of this study raise implications for clinical practice and suggest that a multidisciplinary approach to the management of women with PCOS. This article extracted from Ph.D. thesis. (Fatemeh Bazarganipour).