This Article Full Text 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 Citation Map 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 Codner, E. Articles by Rey, R. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Codner, E. Articles by Rey, R. A. Pubmed/NCBI databases Substance via MeSH Medline Plus Health Information Diabetes Type 1 Hormones Related Collections Diabetes and Insulin Female Endocrinology

Hormonal Profile in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome with or without Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Institute of Maternal and Child Research (E.C., C.V., P.L., G.I., F.C.), School of Medicine, University of Chile, and Hospital San Borja Arriarán (P.L., N.S.), Santiago, Chile 836-0160; Endocrinology and Metabolism Laboratory (T.S.-P.), West Division, School of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile 850-0000; Centro de Investigaciones Endocrinológicas (R.A.R.), Hospital de Niños R. Gutiérrez, 1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Departamento de Histología (R.A.R.), Biología Celular, Embriología y Genética, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, 1121 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Ethel Codner, M.D., Institute of Maternal and Child Research, School of Medicine, University of Chile, Casilla 226-3, Santiago, Chile. E-mail: ecodner{at}med.uchile.cl.

Context: Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels are increased in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), but it is not known whether other forms of hyperandrogenism, such as PCOS observed in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM1), are also associated with elevated AMH levels.

Objective: Our objective was to compare AMH and steroid levels in women with PCOS with and without DM1.

Design: We compared the clinical, hormonal, and ultrasonographic characteristics of 17 women with PCOS and DM1 (DM1+PCOS), 20 women with PCOS without DM1 (PCOS), and 35 normal women (control) in a cross-sectional study.

Results: The Ferriman-Gallwey score, serum testosterone, free androgen index, 17OH-progesterone, and ovarian volume were elevated in both groups of PCOS women compared with controls. Serum androstenedione, LH/FSH ratio, and follicle number, however, were higher and SHBG was lower in PCOS compared with DM1+PCOS and controls. AMH levels were higher in PCOS (76.0 ± 36.3 pmol/liter) than in DM1+PCOS (18.8 ± 7.4 pmol/liter) and controls (13.9 ± 8.3 pmol/liter). AMH levels correlated with follicle number in the three groups. Serum AMH/follicle number ratio was higher in PCOS than in DM1+PCOS and controls.

Conclusions: Women with DM1+PCOS have normal levels of AMH, inhibin B, estradiol, SHBG, and LH/FSH, suggesting that the pathophysiology of hyperandrogenism in PCOS patients with DM1 appears to be different from that in PCOS without DM1. However, hirsutism score and androgen levels were similar in both groups of women with PCOS. We postulate that insulin treatment acts as a co-gonadotropin increasing follicle recruitment, hence not increasing AMH levels.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Soto, G. Iniguez, P. Lopez, G. Larenas, V. Mujica, R. A. Rey, and E. Codner Anti-Mullerian hormone and inhibin B levels as markers of premature ovarian aging and transition to menopause in type 1 diabetes mellitus Hum. Reprod., November 1, 2009; 24(11): 2838 - 2844. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S.M. Carlsen, E. Vanky, and R. Fleming Anti-Mullerian hormone concentrations in androgen-suppressed women with polycystic ovary syndrome Hum. Reprod., July 1, 2009; 24(7): 1732 - 1738. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Maric Sex, diabetes and the kidney Am J Physiol Renal Physiol, April 1, 2009; 296(4): F680 - F688. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]