A New Predictor for Insulin Resistance in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: InsuTAG

Abstract

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrinopathy among women of reproductive age. PCOS leads to metabolic dysfunction such as dyslipidemia, obesity, and glucose intolerance based on hyperandrogenemia, hyperinsulinemia, and dysregulated adipokine secretion. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a new marker, InsuTAG (fasting insulin×fasting triglycerides) could predict insulin resistance (IR) in patients of PCOS. Methods: In this study, retrospective data of 300 female patients diagnosed with PCOS were analyzed. The relationship between InsuTAG and HOMA-IR, TyG, and TG/HDL-C scores related to insulin resistance was evaluated. In addition, the distribution of the cases according to the cut-off values was determined. Results: Log-transformed forms of InsuTAG and HOMA-IR, TyG and TG/HDL-C results were positively correlated, respectively. (r = 0.85, p < 0.001; r = 0.78, p < 0.001; r = 0.72, p < 0.001). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values for InsuTAG were calculated as 85%, 85%, 82% and 88%, respectively. Conclusions: This study is the first to compare the InsuTAG, another predictor of insulin resistance, with other IR markers in women with PCOS. InsuTAG is a novel biomarker based on plasma sampling of insulin and triglyceride, with minimally invasive, inexpensive and orientally accessible features.