Spleen-yang-deficiency patients with polycystic ovary syndrome have higher levels of visfatin.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To study serum visfatin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) grouped by Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) patterns. To study the correlations of serum visfatin levels with homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), fasting insulin (FINS), body mass index (BMI), testosterone (T), total cholesterol (TC), and triglycerides (TG). METHODS: Two hundred and twelve PCOS patients were placed into the following TCM pattern subgroups Kidney-Yang deficiency (KYD) group, Spleen-Yang deficiency (SYD) group, stagnant Liver-Qi transforming into heat (SLQTH) group, and Kidney-Yin deficiency (KYIND) group. The correlations between serum visfatin levels and HOMA-IR, FPG, FINS, BMI, T, TC, and TG were analyzed. RESULTS: Of all patients with PCOS, there were 82 in the KYD group (38.6%), 67 in the SYD group (31.6%), 37 in the SLQTH group (17.5%), and 26 in the KYIND group (12.3%). Visfatin levels in all PCOS subgroups were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Among these subgroups, the visfatin levels in the SYD group were significantly higher than those in the other three TCM pattern groups (P < 0.05). There were no statistical differences among the remaining three pattern groups. The levels of BMI, FINS, HOMA-IR, T, and TG were significantly higher in all subgroups than those in the control group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in FPG and TC between all PCOS subgroups and the control group (P > 0.05). The SYD group had higher levels of FINS and HOMA-IR compared with the KYD, SLQTH, and KYIND groups (P < 0.05). In all subgroups, after controlling for BMI, TG, TC, and age, visfatin was positively correlated with FINS (r = 0.197, P = 0.015) and HOMA-IR (r = 0.173, P = 0.033), and was not correlated with T. CONCLUSION: KYD and SYD patterns are most common in PCOS patients. Increased visfatin is a common pathophysiologic manifestation in PCOS patients. The SYD group had the highest levels of visfatin, and visfatin was positively correlated with FINS and HOMA-IR.