Increased C-Reactive Protein Levels in the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Marker of Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the most common reproductive abnormalities, shares some components of the metabolic cardiovascular syndrome. Therefore, PCOS patients may represent the largest group of women at high risk for the development of early-onset cardiovascular disease (CVD) and/or diabetes. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a strong independent predictor of future CVD and/or stroke. Only one small published study has looked for such an association (17 PCOS patients vs. 15 controls). The objective of this study was to compare the levels of CRP and other risk factors of CVD in a large group of PCOS patients and controls. CRP measurements were undertaken in 116 PCOS patients and 94 body mass index-matched controls with regular menstrual cycles. Whereas 36.8% of the PCOS patients had CRP levels above 5 mg/liter, only 9.6% of the controls exhibited high CRP levels (P < 0.001). The mean +/- SD was 5.46 +/- 7.0 in the PCOS group vs. 2.04 +/- 1.9 mg/liter in the control (P < 0.001). The body mass index, white blood cell count, TSH, glucose, cholesterol, and homocysteine levels were not significantly different between the two groups. CRP levels are elevated in patients with PCOS and may be a marker of early cardiovascular risk in these patients. High CRP levels may explain why some PCOS women may possibly be at an increased risk for the development of early-onset CVD. Consequently, whether treatment regimens directed toward lowering CVD risk factors should be more aggressive for those PCOS women with increased CRP levels, awaits further clinical experience.

Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and hsCRP in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in a Tertiary Care Hospital

“…These include serum high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), homocysteine, sialic acid and fibrinogen [15][16][17][18]. Of these, the role of hsCRP in PCOS is gaining increasing interest [9].…”

Evaluation of the High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein in Young Obese Women With Pcos

“…15 Boulman et al in their study found that 36.8% of the PCOS patients had hs-CRP levels above 5 mg/L, whereas only 9.6% of the controls exhibited such high hs-CRP levels (p<0.001). 2 In our study, metabolic syndrome was present in 36% of obese PCOS patients, but only 8% in the control group had metabolic syndrome. The mean hs-CRP level was 5.46 mg/L in PCOS patients and it is only 2.8 mg/L in non-PCOS control subjects (p<0.001).…”

“…It has been found to correlate with traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as increasing age, obesity and adverse lipid profiles. 2 Clinically, PCOS can be diagnosed in women having hirsutism, irregular menstrual cycle and classical ovarian morphology. 3 Limited data are available concerning the prevalence of metabolic disorders in young women with PCOS and whether chronic PCOS status overtime will lead to greater impairment of cardiovascular status is still to be evaluated.…”

C-reactive protein level and obesity as cardiovascular risk factors in polycystic ovary syndrome

“…CRP ile PKOS arasında yapılan univariant regresyonda anlamlı ilişki olsa da VKİ' nin katıldığı multivariant regresyonda CRP' deki bu anlamlı ilişki kaybolmuş, ancak VKİ ile devam eder görülmüştür. Bunu destekleyen diğer çalışmalarda da PKOS ve normal sağlıklı yetişkinlerde, hs-CRP ve leptin VKİ ile pozitif korelasyon gösterilmiştir [26][27][28][29]. Bu moleküller çoğunlukla artmış visseral adipoz doku ile ilişkilidirler [30,31,32].…”

“…CRP'nin vasküler olaylarda iyi bir belirteç olması-nın yanında inflamatuar belirteç olarak da aterogenezde direkt rol oynadığı bildirilmiştir [7]. PKOS oluşumunda anahtar rol oynayan hiperinsülinemi ve yüksek CRP değerlerinin birlikteliği, kardiyovaskü-ler hastalıklarda önemli bir risk faktörüdür [8,9].…”