Molecular links between angiogenesis and inflammation in polycystic ovary syndrome

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a cause of infertility in women of reproductive age. Angiogenesis is the physiological process through which new blood vessels form from pre-existing vessels. The aim is to study roles of parameters associated with angiogenesis and inflammation e.g vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble-Fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt-1), monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), endostatin and interleukin–18 (IL-18) in PCOS pathogenesis and enlighten possible correlations within PCOS-angiogenesis-inflammation triangle.A total of 64 women, 31 healthy and 33 with PCOS participated into the study. Their ages, body mass index (BMI) values, routine biochemical parameters were recorded. VEGF, MCP-1, sFlt-1, IL-18 and endostatin levels were determined by ELISA in serum samples. Statistical analyses were performed by SPSS. p<0.05 was accepted as the degree for statistical significance.Ages, BMI values and BMI distribution profiles of groups did not differ significantly from each other. There were no significant differences between the values detected for MCP-1, IL-18, VEGF and sFlt-1. Upon evaluation of endostatin values, those of patient group were significantly higher than those in control group (p<0.01). Two important correlations were detected (VEGF and MCP-1 as well as VEGF and sFlt-1) in patient group. These were not observed in the control group.As a result of the literature survey, any study reporting elevated endostatin levels as well as significant correlations between VEGF-MCP-1 and VEGF-sFlt-1 was not found on women with PCOS. In this study, it was concluded that the strikingly elevated values of endostatin in PCOS was a prominent finding.