Glycemic Status in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Dyslipidemia Before and After Three Months Treatment with Atorvastatin

Abstract

AbstractBackground and Aims. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with disturbances in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. Statins appear to have beneficial effects in PCOS, although some meta-analyzes showed an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of treatment with 20 mg of atorvastatin daily for three months on glucose tolerance in a group of 8 normal weight patients with PCOS and dyslipidemia.Material andMethods. We evaluated 8 patients aged between 29 and 40 years, with normal weight, diagnosed with PCOS and dyslipidemia. The carbohydrate metabolism was assessed by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) before and after 3 months of therapy with 20 mg of atorvastatin daily.Results. Treatment with atorvastatin resulted in a statistically significant reduction in total cholesterol (p = 0.001), LDL cholesterol (p = 0.001), triglycerides (p = 0.01) and statistically significant increase in HDL cholesterol (p = 0.003). Fasting plasma glucose (p = 0.59) and the 2-hour OGTT glycemia (p = 0.54) were not significantly changed. Total testosterone decreased significantly ( p= 0.04).Conclusions. At baseline, all patients included in our study showed unaffected carbohydrate metabolism. Even after 3 months of therapy with atorvastatin 20 mg daily no changes in glucose homeostasis were noted.