High-visfatin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: evidence from a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies regarding visfatin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) showed conflicting results. To evaluate the visfatin levels in PCOS, a meta-analysis was performed. Methods: A comprehensive literature search of eligible studies in Embase, Pubmed and the Cochrane Library was undertaken through November 2014. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the strength of the association. Results: A total of 1341 subjects (695 cases and 646 controls) were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled analysis results indicated that the visfatin levels were significantly higher in PCOS patients than that of controls (SMD = 1.19, 95% CI 0.77–1.60, p = 0.000). The results from stratified analysis and univariate analysis suggested that high-visfatin levels were not related to body mass index (BMI), insulin resistance (IR) and total testosterone ratio. Significant heterogeneity was observed in all analysis. Conclusion: Our results indicate that high-circulating visfatin level is an intrinsic characteristic of PCOS, which suggests visfatin could be a potential biomarker for PCOS.

Chinese abstract

目的：以往关于多囊卵巢综合征的妇女内酯素水平的研究显示出相互矛盾的结果。为了评估多囊卵巢综合征患者内酯素水平，进行荟萃分析。方法：选择Embase, Pubmed和 Cochrane 图书馆3个数据库，对其中符合条件的研究进行全面文献检索，检索时间截至2014年11月。计算带有95%置信区间（CIs）的标准化均差(SMDs)来评价相关的强度。结果：总共1341名研究对象（病例组695例，对照组646例）被纳入本次荟萃分析。汇总分析结果显示PCOS患者中内酯素水平明显高于对照组。(SMD=1.19, 95% CI 0.77–1.60, p=0.000). 分层分析和单因素分析结果显示高内酯素水平和体重指数（BMI）、胰岛素抵抗(IR)以及总睾酮比值不相关。所有的分析中都观察到明显的异质性。结论：我们荟萃分析的结果显示，外周血中高内酯素水平是PCOS的内在特征，这意味着内酯素能成为PCOS的潜在的生物标志物。

• Biomarker
• meta-analysis
• polycystic ovary syndrome
• visfatin

Declaration of interest

This research was supported by Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine (Grant No.YB14030).