Purpose
The aim of our study was to detect subclinical abnormalities in carbohydrate metabolism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.
Methods
Cross-sectional study including 20 patients with PCOS diagnosed according to 5- the Rotterdam criteria. All the patients had normal carbohydrate tolerance (fasting blood 6- glucose<5.6 mmol/l, 2-h plasma glucose after a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test<7.8 mmol/l andglycated hemoglobin <5.8%). For each patient, we performed a continuous glucose monitoring over 72h, measuring the interstitial glucose every 5 minutes (288 measurements per day). We collected data about: the mean blood glucose, obtained by determining the mean values of the 288 measurements made by 24h - the mean amplitude of glycemic excursions, which is the difference between the maximum and minimum glycemic values - the time (in hours) in which the blood glucose was <0.7 g/l and / or>1.4 g/l.
Results
The mean blood glucose (over 72h) was 0.94±0.07 g/l (0.81-1.11).The mean amplitude of glycemic excursions (over 72h) was 0.81 ± 0.23 g/l (0.47-1.31).Fourteen patients (pathologic group) had subclinical glycemic abnormalities: 14 patients had glycemic values<0.7 g/l and 5 patients had also glycemic values>1.4 g/l. The mean amplitude of glycemic excursions was significantly lower (p=0.016) in the normal group (6 patients, 0.64 g/l) compared to the pathologic group(14 patients, 0.88 g/l).The other clinical and biological parameters were comparable between the two groups.
Conclusions
Our findings confirm the high frequency of subclinical abnormalities of carbohydrate metabolism in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. A regular follow-up of these patients is necessary.