ENDOCRINE FEATURES IN EUTESTOSTERONEMIC WOMEN WITH POLYCYSTIC OVARIES

We attempted to assess the association between hyperandrogenemia and i nappropriate gonadotropin secretion in women with polycystic ovaries ( PCO). Thirty-one patients diagnosed as PCO by ultrasonography were div ided into two subgroups: 17 with high serum total testosterone (T) lev el(greater than or equal to 0.5 ng/ml) and 14 with normal serum total T level(<0.5 ng/ml). Both subgroups presented for the complaints of ol igomenorrhea and/or hirsutism. The control group consisted of 15 women with regular ovulation for reference data collection. The PCO subject s with normal T, but not those with high T, revealed remarkable deplet ion of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), as compared with control, The PCO subject groups with high and normal serum T did not differ wit h respect to estrogen level, androgen level, follicle-stimulating horm one and prolactin levels, and SHBG concentration. Solely serum luteini zing hormon (LH) level was observed to be higher in those with high T, as typical features, than another subgroup or control. These data sug gest that an increase in bioactive T as a result of decrease in serum SHBG or LH elevation may contribute to ovarian dysfunction in the pati ent with PCO.