Azita Zadeh-Vakili, Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani, Somayeh Hashemi, Atieh Amouzegar and Fereidoun Azizi
Background: In spite of increasing evidence that hormonal change might play a relevant role in the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in women, results are still controversial. Most studies examining this relationship have focused on women who carry an altered hormonal milieu. In this study we aimed at examining the association between androgens, prolactin, Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) and MetS parameters in non-hyperandrogenic eumenorrheic reproductive aged women.
Methods: Subjects were 1126 women, 18-45 years old, selected randomly (using the stratified, multistage probability cluster sampling method) from among reproductive aged women of different geographic regions of Iran. Serum levels of hormones were measured and after implementation of exclusion criteria, complete data for 423 eumenorrheic non hirsute women remained for analysis.
Results: Androstendion (A4) was positively correlated with HDL-C ( p < 0.01) while this correlation was negative in case of TSH (p<0.005). A positive correlation was also detected between TSH and triglycerides (p<0.01) while SHBG, prolactin and A4 were found to be negatively correlated with waist circumference (WC) ( p < 0.02, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001 respectively). In logistic regression analyses, after adjustment for age and body mass index, SHBG and prolactin remained associated with WC ( p < 0.04, p < 0.01, respectively). The association between A4 and HDL-C was weakened but still marginally significant (p=0.05).
Conclusions: These hormonal derangements suggest the involvement of metabolic risk factors and necessitate identification of high risk individuals, to facilitate treatment in order to improve their clinical status and prevent long term complications.