Serum adiponectin level is negatively related to insulin resistance in women with PCOS.

Purpose: Our study aimed to assess the relationship between serum adipokines and insulin resistance (IR) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as well as explore the predictive value of adipokines on IR in PCOS.

Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study. 154 women with PCOS were included from July 2021 to September 2022 who underwent gonadal steroid hormone measurement, lipid profile, oral glucose tolerance test and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-IR. Adiponectin (APN), leptin and secreted frizzled-related protein (Sfrp5) were measured by immunoturbidimetry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Women with PCOS were categorised based on the presence of IR.

Results: Women with PCOS with IR (n=99) had significantly lower APN level and APN to leptin ratio (A/L ratio) than those without IR (n=55), whereas serum levels of leptin and Sfrp5 were similar between the two groups. In multivariable linear regression analysis, serum log (APN) and log (A/L ratio) were associated with log(HOMA-IR), the association was statistically significant after adjusting for body mass index (BMI) and free androgen index. The area under the ROC curve (95% CI) for APN and A/L ratio were 0.726 (0.644-0.807; P<0.001) and 0.660(0.569-0.751; P<0.01), with cutoff values of 5.225 mg/L (Youden index ¼ 0.364) and 1.438 (Youden index ¼ 0.265) respectively.

Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that serum APN was negatively related to IR. Serum APN may be useful as a clinical marker for IR in women with PCOS. Our findings warrant further investigations into the function of APN in the pathogenesis of IR in women with PCOS.