The Relationship Between Leptin and PCOS

Abstract

Background: The ob gene produces a leptin hormone that works as a satiety signal to the hypothalamus. Leptin may have a role in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) via its role on obesity and insulin resistance. Materials and Methods: A prospective, retrospectives cross- sectional study included 78 females student aged 17-25 years. The retrospective data included clinical, anthropometric and hormonal profile of each subject. Leptin concentration was measured by enzyme absorbent by BioVendor Human Leptin ELISA. Statistical analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics 21.0 for Windows XP (IBM, USA). Results: leptin found to be significantly higher in those women with PCOS than in women without PCOS (p-value 0.037). Also, Overweight/Obese subjects had higher leptin level (22.85 ng/ml) than non-overweight/non-obese subjects (8.82 ng/ml) with (p-value <0.05). OW/Ob group showed higher frequency of family history of PCOS and diabetes, irregular menstrual cycle (IP) and high Ferriman-Gallwey score. Leptin is significantly correlated with insulin, testosterone, BMI, DHEAS, progesterone, FAI and PCOS. Conclusion: PCOS, overweight and obese subjects exhibit high leptin level.