Wrist circumference: A new marker for insulin resistance in African women with polycystic ovary syndrome

BACKGROUND Insulin resistance(IR)is the main complication found in 35%-80%of women with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS).However,there is no definite consensus regarding which marker to use for its assessment in PCOS women.Research has shown that hyperinsulinemia is correlated with increased bone mass.Given that most women with PCOS are insulin resistant,which is independent from body fat and characterized by hyperinsulinemia,it could be hypothesized that there would be an increased bone mass in the patient as a result.Subsequently,increased bone mass could be measured using the wrist circumference method.AIM To assess the wrist circumference as an easy-to-detect marker of IR in Congolese women with PCOS.METHODS Seventy-two Congolese women with PCOS and seventy-one controls from the same ethnic group,were enrolled in the study(mean age 24.33±5.36 years).Fasting biochemical parameters,and the Homeostasis Model Assessment of insulin resistance(HOMA-IR)and body composition were evaluated.The nondominant wrist circumference was measured manually,as was the waist circumference(WC),hip circumference,height and weight.Calculated measures included evaluation of body mass index(BMI),Waist-to-Height(WHtR)and Waist-to-hip ratio(WHR).In addition,body composition was assessed by Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis using a body fat analyzer.RESULTS The non-dominant wrist circumference was more closely correlated with HOMAIR(r=0.346;P=0.003)and was the best anthropometrical marker correlated with IR(P=0.011)compared with other anthropometrical markers in women with PCOS:Dominant Wrist Circumference(r=0.315;P=0.007),Waist Circumference(WC)(r=0.259;P=0.028),BMI(r=0.285;P=0.016),WHR(r=0.216;P=0,068)and WHtR(r=0.263;P=0.027).The diagnostic accuracy of the non-dominant wrist circumference for the presence or absence of IR using Receiver-operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve was 0.72.A cutoff value for the non-dominant wrist circumference of 16.3 cm was found to be the best predictor of IR in Congolese women with PCOS.CONCLUSION Non-dominant wrist circumference is,to date,the best anthropometrical marker of IR in Sub-Saharan African women with PCOS.It could be suggested as an easy-to-detect marker for assessing IR.

Markers of insulin resistance in Polycystic ovary syndrome women:An update

Polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)is one of the most common endocrine disorders,affecting 5%-10%of women of reproductive age.The importance of this syndrome lies in the magnitude of associated comorbidities:infertility,metabolic dysfunction,cardiovascular disease(CVD),plus psychological and oncological complications.Insulin resistance(IR)is a prominent feature of PCOS with a prevalence of 35%-80%.Without adequate management,IR with compensatory hyperinsulinemia contributes directly to reproductive dysfunction in women with PCOS.Furthermore,epidemiological data shows compelling evidence that PCOS is associated with an increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance,gestational diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes.In addition,metabolic dysfunction leads to a risk for CVD that increases with aging in women with PCOS.Indeed,the severity of IR in women with PCOS is associated with the amount of abdominal obesity,even in lean women with PCOS.Given these drastic implications,it is important to diagnose and treat insulin resistance as early as possible.Many markers have been proposed.However,quantitative assessment of IR in clinical practice remains a major challenge.The gold standard method for assessing insulin sensitivity is the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic glucose clamp.However,it is not used routinely because of the complexity of its procedure.Consequently,there has been an urgent need for surrogate markers of IR that are more applicable in large population-based epidemiological investigations.Despite this,many of them are either difficult to apply in routine clinical practice or useless for women with PCOS.Considering this difficulty,there is still a need for an accurate marker for easy,early detection and assessment of IR in women with PCOS.This review highlights markers of IR already used in women with PCOS,including new markers recently reported in literature,and it establishes a new classification for these markers.