Objective: To investigate the association of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and the clinical characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome: (PCOS).
Methods: Fasting peripheral venous blood samples were collected on the 2nd or 3rd day of the menstrual cycle or when there was no dominant follicle shown by ultrasonography after amenorrhea from 65 POCS patients, aged 30 +/- 3, 27 being attributed to the obese group according the body mass index (BMI) and 38 to the non-obese group, and 40 patients with infertility, aged 31 +/- 3, as controls, subdivided into obese and non-obese subgroups (both n = 20), and then the samples of serum. Were obtained. The level of MCP-1 was examined by ELISA. The levels of prolactin, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol, and testosterone (T) were assayed with chemoluminescence methods, and the level of androstenedione was detected by radioimmunoassay. The level of serum insulin was detected by chemoluminescence method and the serum glucose (SG) was detected by oxidase enzymic method. Insulin sensitivity index (ISI) and homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) were calculated.
Results: (1) The levels of serum LH, T, and LH/FSH of the obese and non-obese POCS subgroups were all significantly higher than the corresponding obese and non-obese control subgroups (all P < 0.05). (2) The level of MCP-1 of the non-obese PCOS subgroup was (98 +/- 67) ng/ml, significantly higher than that of the non-obese controls [(58 +/- 41 mg/L, P < 0.05)]. (3) Pearson correlation showed that serum PCP-1 was significantly positively correlated with BMI (r = 0.339, P = 0.000). LH (r = 0.224, P = 0.024)), and HOMA-IR (r = 0.239, P = 0.016), and significantly negatively correlated with ISI (r = -0.250, P = 0.0006). (3) Multiple regression analysis showed that BMI and LH were the principal factors influencing the level of MCP-1 in the POCS patients.
Conclusion: The serum level of MCP-1 is associated with the LH level in POCS patients. POCS may a chronic inflammatory disease. MCP-1 is likely to participate in obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and insulin resistance in POCS.