C-reactive protein before and after weight loss in overweight women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with reproductive and metabolic abnormalities. It is unknown whether overweight women with and without PCOS achieve similar benefits from weight loss for cardiovascular risk factors. Method: Overweight body mass index-matched women with (n = 15) and without (n = 17) PCOS (weight, 95.3 ± 17.6 kg; body mass index, 35.6 ± 5.3 kg/m², mean ± SD) followed an 8-wk weight loss regime. Results: All subjects had similar reductions in weight (3.9 ± 3.6 kg, 3.8%, vs. 4.5 ± 4.1 kg, 4.7%, respectively, for PCOS and non-PCOS), waist circumference, fat mass, triglycerides, free testosterone, and fasting and postprandial insulin. At baseline, C-reactive protein (CRP) between groups was not significantly different (5.5 ± 3.1 mg/liter for PCOS vs. 4.9 ± 3.0 mg/liter for non-PCOS). There was a significant interaction between PCOS status and CRP (P = 0.016) such that CRP decreased with weight loss for non-PCOS women (-1.2 ± 1.8 mg/liter; P = 0.025) but not for PCOS women. For all women, the change in CRP correlated with the change in weight (r = 0.560; P = 0.003), fat mass (r = 0.477; P = 0.016), and postprandial insulin (r = 0.402; P = 0.046). Adiponectin, IL-6, and TNF-α were not significantly different between groups before or after weight loss. Only subjects with baseline CRP levels below the median (4.52 mg/liter) showed increases in adiponectin (0.98 ± 1.3 μg/liter) (P = 0.015) and greater reductions in triglycerides (P = 0.001) with weight loss. Conclusion: A 4-5% weight loss improved lipid, glucose, and insulin profiles in women with and without PCOS. This degree of weight loss was not effective in lowering CRP concentrations in PCOS women, suggesting that greater weight loss is required in this group to achieve equivalent cardiovascular benefit to non-PCOS women.