This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by FARAH, M. J. Articles by KITABCHI, A. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by FARAH, M. J. Articles by KITABCHI, A. E.

Bimodal Correlation between the Circulating Insulin Level and the Production Rate of Dehydroepiandrosterone: Positive Correlation in Controls and Negative Correlation in the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome with Acanthosis Nigricans^*

MAGED J. FARAH, JAMES R. GIVENS and ABBAS E. KITABCHI

Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Section of Reproductive Medicine, and the Clinical Research Center, University of Tennessee Memphis, Tennessee 38163

Address requests for reprints to: James R. Givens, M.D., Department of Medicine, University of Tennessee, Memphis, 951 Court Avenue, Room 340M, Memphis, Tennessee 38163.

The objective of this study was to define the relationship among the circulating insulin level (IRI), the MCR of dehydroepiandrosterone (MCR-D), and the production rate of DHEA (PR-D) in 10 women with the polycystic ovary syndrome and acanthosis nigricans (PCOS-AN). Seven normal weight and 10 obese women served as controls. Measurement of the MCR-D and PR-D was accomplished by iv saline infusion (0.9% NaCl solution) on day 1 as a control and a 4-h iv dehydroepiandrosterone (unlabeled) infusion (1 mg/h) was performed on day 2. Mean MCR-D was more than 2-fold higher in the obese controls compared to the normal weight controls. However, the plasma concentration of DHEA(PC-D) was not significantly different in the normal and obese control women, since the PR-D was increased proportionately to the MCR-D. The MCR-D and the PR-D were coupled through insulin in the control women, and their correlation coefficients with IRI were positive and identical (0.77 and 0.73, respectively). In contrast, IRI was negatively correlated with PR-D in the PCOS-AN women. Also, unlike the control women, there was minimal or no change in the MCR-D across a broad range of IRI in the PCOS-AN women. Thus, the MCR-D and PR-D were not coupled in these women.

^* This work was conducted in the Clinical Research Center of the University of Tennessee, Memphis, which is supported by Grant RR-211 from the General Clinical Research Center Program of the NIH. This study was also supported by USPH Grant ROl-AM-31312 (to J.R.G.).

Postdoctoral Fellow, Endocrinology and Metabolism. Current address: Humana Hospital-Clinch Valley, Medical Plaza, Suite 2450, 2951 West Front Street, Richlands, Virginia 24641.

Received September 15, 1989.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. M. Adams, A. E. Taylor, W. F. Crowley Jr., and J. E. Hall Polycystic Ovarian Morphology with Regular Ovulatory Cycles: Insights into the Pathophysiology of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., September 1, 2004; 89(9): 4343 - 4350. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. Bonnekoh, A. Wevers, H. Spangenberger, G. Mahrle, and T. Krieg Keratin Pattern of Acanthosis Nigricans in Syndromelike Association With Polythelia, Polycystic Kidneys, and Syndactyly Arch Dermatol, September 1, 1993; 129(9): 1177 - 1182. [Abstract] [PDF]