Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine abnormalities in obese women of reproductive age that contributes to metabolic complications and increases the risk of hemostatic dysregulation. However, the effects of PCOS on coagulation and fibrinolysis have remained largely unexplored. Lipocalin-2 is an adipokine, elevates in obese and appears to play a role in the development of insulin resistance, which is one of cardinal characteristics of PCOS that predispose to hypercoagulable state.
Objective: Assessment of serum lipocalin-2 levels and correlate thos levels with some metabolic and hemostatic features in experimentally-induced obese rats with PCOS.
Design: A total number of 20 young female albino local strain rats were divided into 2 main groups, group I (control group) and group II (obese polycystic group) that fed high fat diet (HFD) (45% fat) for 12 weeks and treated with oral letrozole (0.5 mg/kg BW ) daily for the last 21 days . In both groups, serum levels of glucose, insulin (with calculation of HOMA-IR), lipocalin-2, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, LH, FSH, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, C-reactive protein, BT, WBCT, PT, aPTT, plasma fibrinogen, plasma D-dimers, platelet count, platelet aggregation and soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sVCAM-1) were estimated.
Results: The results of this study showed a significant increase in serum lipocalin-2 levels in obese PCOS in comparison with that of control group, which was correlated positively and significantly with: BMI, serum glucose levels, insulin levels, HOMA-IR index, atherogenic lipid profile and markers of hyper-coagulability in the same group.
Conclusion: Elevated lipocalin-2 level in obese rats with PCOS may represent a novel link between metabolic signals, atherosclerosis, and hypercoagulability markers.