PMID- 17308142
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070419
LR  - 20220311
IS  - 0077-8923 (Print)
IS  - 0077-8923 (Linking)
VI  - 1092
DP  - 2006 Dec
TI  - Polycystic ovary syndrome: a multifaceted disease from adolescence to adult age.
PG  - 158-74
AB  - Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the most common causes of ovulatory 
      infertility, affects 4-7% of women. Although it was considered that PCOS may have 
      some genetic component and that clinical features of this disorder may change 
      throughout a life span, starting from adolescence to postmenopausal age, no 
      effort has been made to define differences in the phenotype and clinical 
      presentation according to age. Indeed, it has been widely recognized in the last 
      decade that several features of metabolic syndrome (MS), particularly insulin 
      resistance and hyperinsulinemia, are inconsistently present in the majority of 
      women with PCOS. This represents an important factor in the evaluation of PCOS 
      throughout life, which implies that PCOS by itself may not be a hyperandrogenic 
      disorder exclusively related to young and fertile-aged women, but may also have 
      some health implications later in life. In young women with PCOS, 
      hyperandrogenism, menses irregularities, and insulin resistance may occur 
      together, emphasizing the pathophysiological role of excess androgen and insulin 
      on PCOS. Hyperandrogenism and infertility represent the major complaints of PCOS 
      in adult fertile age. In addition, obesity and MS may affect more than half these 
      women. Later in life, it becomes clear that the association of obesity 
      (particularly the abdominal phenotype) and PCOS renders affected women more 
      susceptible to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), with some difference in 
      the prevalence rates among countries, suggesting that environmental factors are 
      important in determining individual susceptibility. Little is known about ovarian 
      morphology and androgen production in women with PCOS after menopause. Some 
      studies found that morphological ultrasonographic features consistent with 
      polycystic ovaries are very common in postmenopausal women, and that these 
      features are associated with higher than normal testosterone levels and metabolic 
      alterations. There is an obvious need for further research in this area. 
      Identification of major complaints and features of PCOS during the different ages 
      of an affected woman may help, in fact, to plan individual therapeutic 
      strategies, and, possibly, prevent long-term chronic metabolic diseases.
FAU - Pasquali, Renato
AU  - Pasquali R
AD  - Department of Internal Medicine, S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of 
      Bologna, Bologna, Italy. renato.pasquali@unibo.it
FAU - Gambineri, Alessandra
AU  - Gambineri A
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Review
PL  - United States
TA  - Ann N Y Acad Sci
JT  - Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
JID - 7506858
SB  - IM
MH  - Adolescent
MH  - Adult
MH  - *Aging
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Polycystic Ovary Syndrome/*physiopathology
RF  - 70
EDAT- 2007/02/20 09:00
MHDA- 2007/04/20 09:00
CRDT- 2007/02/20 09:00
PHST- 2007/02/20 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/04/20 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/02/20 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 1092/1/158 [pii]
AID - 10.1196/annals.1365.014 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Dec;1092:158-74. doi: 10.1196/annals.1365.014.