Background: The body fat in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women is
mostly centrally distributed and is associated with insulin resistance, diabetes
mellitus, and hyperandrogenemia. This study compared the fat distributions of
Thai PCOS and non-PCOS women, and it investigated the association between body
fat distribution in PCOS women with glucose tolerance and serum androgens.
Methods: The PCOS and non-PCOS groups each had 60 women. The body mass
indexes (BMI) of the groups were matched. Blood tests and fat distributions were
compared between group. Results: The mean age of the non-PCOS group was
significantly higher than that of the PCOS group (30.85 6.41 vs.
25.95 5.16 years; p-value 0.001). The glucose level after a
2-hour, 75-gram, oral glucose tolerance test (75-g OGTT) of the PCOS group, and
its insulin resistance, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, total
testosterone, free testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate levels, were
significantly higher than the corresponding values of the non-PCOS group. The fat
distribution patterns of the 2 groups were generally not significantly different.
The level of fat distributed in the arms was significantly elevated among PCOS
women with abnormal 75-g OGTT values. The fat distributions of PCOS women,
regardless of hyperandrogenemia status, did not significantly differ.
Conclusions: No significant differences in fat distribution were observed
between the PCOS and non-PCOS groups. PCOS participants with abnormal 75-g OGTT
levels had a higher proportion of arm-fat compared to those with normal results.
There were no discernible differences in fat distribution patterns between PCOS
women with hyperandrogenemia and those with normal androgen levels.