Distinguishing characteristics of metabolically healthy versus metabolically unhealthy obese adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the key physical, metabolic, hormonal and cardiovascular characteristics of metabolically healthy obese (MHO) versus unhealthy obese (MUHO) girls with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Research center.

PATIENT(S): Seventy obese girls with PCOS were divided into 19 MHO and 51 MUHO based on cutoff points for in vivo insulin sensitivity (within and < 2 SDs of the mean of the insulin sensitivity of the normal-weight girls, respectively).

INTERVENTION(S): None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Body composition, abdominal fat, in vivo insulin sensitivity and secretion (hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic and hyperglycemic clamps respectively), hormonal profile, and cardiovascular disease risk markers.

RESULT(S): MUHO-PCOS girls had higher waist circumference, visceral adipose tissue, leptin, and free testosterone, lower SHBG and E2, higher non-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and atherogenic lipoprotein particle concentrations, smaller HDL particle size, and higher high-sensitivity C-reactive protein compared with MHO-PCOS girls. Hepatic and peripheral insulin sensitivity were lower with higher first- and second-phase insulin secretion, but β-cell function relative to insulin sensitivity was lower in MUHO versus MHO. Pair matching of MHO and MUHO regarding age and body mass index revealed similar findings. MUHO-PCOS girls had larger visceral adiposity, lower insulin sensitivity and β-cell function, worse hormonal profile, and severely atherogenic lipoprotein concentrations compared with MHO-PCOS girls.

CONCLUSION(S): MHO-PCOS girls have favorable physical, metabolic, hormonal, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) characteristics and lower risk biomarkers for type 2 diabetes compared with their MUHO-PCOS peers. A greater understanding of the contrast in this risk phenotype in obese girls with PCOS may have important implications for therapeutic interventions, their outcomes, and their durability.