Hypoadiponectinemia: A useful marker of dyslipidemia in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: Adiponectin plays a role in obesity, lipid metabolism, and anti-inflammation. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are also at risk for dyslipidemia. Therefore, we investigated the association between adiponectin levels and the lipid profile including high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TGs) in women with PCOS and contemplated what role adiponectin might play in dyslipidemia with PCOS. Materials and Methods: We recruited 118 young Taiwanese women with PCOS. The women enrolled were not taking any medication and those with other systemic diseases of nonovarian origin, which could have affected the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, were excluded. The serum lipid profile, metabolic and hormonal parameters, and adiponectin were measured. The lipid profile and adiponectin were analyzed and adjusted for age, body mass index (BMI), homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Results: In a simple linear regression, adiponectin was significantly inversely related to LDL-C and TGs, but positively related to HDL-C (all p < 0.001) after logarithmic transformation. In the multiple linear regression, adiponectin was significantly related to HDL-C (p < 0.001) independent of age, BMI, HOMA-IR, and SHBG after logarithmic transformation. Using a logistic regression, the odds ratio was 0.088 between the association of increased adiponectin and abnormal HDL-C (≤50 mg/dL). Conclusions: We demonstrated that adiponectin is an independent biomarker that is positively and evidently related to HDL-C and TGs in women with PCOS. Hypoadiponectinemia may be a useful marker of dyslipidemia in women with PCOS.