A Study on Assessment of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone and Insulin Resistance in Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Objective Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), the most common cause of infertility, is a disorder characterized by chronic anovulation, hyperandrogenism, hyperinsulinemia, and often presence of obesity. Obesity has been linked to endocrine disorders especially thyroid dysfunction. The present study was designed to assess thyroid stimulating hormone and insulin resistance in women with PCOS and to compare them with healthy women as controls. Material and Methods A comparative study including 30 women diagnosed as PCOS and 30 age and BMI matched healthy women as controls was conducted. The age group for the study was 18-35 years. Fasting blood samples were drawn to assess serum Insulin, HbA1c, triiodothyroxine (T3), thyroxine (T4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and fasting blood sugar (FBS). Insulin resistance (IR) was calculated by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). Body Mass Index (BMI) was also calculated. Results A significant increase in fasting serum insulin (pless than0.001) and HOMA IR (pless than0.001) were found in patients with PCOS in comparison with controls. Mean BMI, T3, T4, TSH, FBS and HbA1c were found elevated in the PCOS women but they were not statistically significant. No significant correlations were found between BMI, TSH and serum insulin. Conclusions Serum Insulin and HOMA-IR were found to be significantly higher in PCOS subjects compared to controls. All the above derangements confirm that PCOS is associated with insulin resistance and places the subject at a higher risk of metabolic syndrome. We could not find any significant correlation between serum TSH, serum insulin and BMI because our study consisted of a limited number of PCOS subjects and controls.