The relationship between obesity and serum visfatin levels inpatients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: It is thought that Visfatin, a new adipocytokine is observed at high levels in patients with central obesity, insulin resistance and hyperandrogenic disease. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the difference between serum visfatin levels between normal-weight polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients and overweight patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, to compare visfatin levels with a control group without polycystic ovary syndrome, and to evaluate the relation of visfatin to insulin resistance in patient groups with and without polycystic ovary syndrome because of the insufficient studies about Visfatin. Materials and Methods: 30 patients with normal weight and 30 patients without normal weight who were diagnosed with PCOS and as a control group, 30 patients with complaints such as vaginal discharge and dysmenorrhea and without complaints like irregularity, acne or hair growth that applied to the Obstetrics and Gynecology outpatient clinics of Amasya University Sabuncuoğlu Şerefeddin Training and Research Hospital between 01.07.2020 and 31.12.2020 were included to our study. Rotterdam criteria were used for the study, and a diagnosis of PCOS was made if 2 of the 3 criteria were met. Research permission and informed consent were obtained from all patients. The information obtained from the groups for the study was recorded in case report forms and after analyzing the blood samples given by the patients for fasting routine examinations, they were kept in suitable storage conditions (-20°C) until the day of analysis for collective analysis of serum visfatin levels. Visfatin serum levels of healthy volunteers with PCOS patients with BMI <25kg/m2, BMI≥ 25kg/m2 with PKOS and healthy volunteers were compared. Serum glucose, insulin, total testosterone, Dehidroepiandrosteron sülfat (DHEAS), luteinizing hormone (LH), Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH), estrogen, progesterone, 17OH-progesterone and hemogram levels of all individuals were determined. HOMA-IR was calculated to determine insulin resistance. Results: Among the study groups included in the study, serum visfatin levels of healthy volunteers were significantly higher than patients with normal weight PCOS (p<0,05). It was observed that there was no significant difference between PCOS patients who were normal weight and overweight. There was no significant difference in serum visfatin levels between PCOS patients who were overweight and healthy volunteers who were also overweight (p>0,05). Serum visfatin levels of women diagnosed PCOS with normal weight were significantly lower than healthy women with normal weight (p<0,05). No statistically significant difference was found in terms of serum visfatin levels between overweight and non-overweight healthy control groups (p<0,05). No statistically significant difference was found in terms of serum visfatin levels between women with and without insulin resistance among women with PCOS diagnosis included in the study (P>0,05). No statistically significant difference was found between healthy women with and without insulin resistance in terms of serum visfatin levels (P>0,05). Conclusion: It was observed that the Visfatin levels decreased in patients with PCOS and there was no significant result in Visfatin levels according to the patients being overweight and not being overweight. No significant difference was found between insulin resistance and visfatin in patients with PCOS and healthy volunteers. Since it is thought that other factors other than obesity and carbohydrate metabolism that were not investigated in our study may be effective on serum visfatin level, studies with large populations are needed to explain better the relationship between visfatin and PCOS.