PCOS carries no excess risk chronic kidney disease

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) does not appear to be more susceptible to chronic kidney disease compared with the general female population, a study reports.

Researchers followed 156 patients with PCOS and 1,304 healthy women for a median of 12.9 years. Compared with controls, women with PCOS were significantly younger (mean age, 26.4 vs 28.7 years; p=0.002), but they had similar body mass index (BMI; mean, 26 vs 25.3 kg/m²; p=0.085) and waist circumference (mean, 82.7 vs 81.3 cm; p=0.172) at baseline. There were no significant between-group differences in the other baseline characteristics except for androgens levels, which were higher in the PCOS group (p=0.001).

Over the duration of follow-up, 330 participants developed CKD. The incidence was similar among patients with PCOS (n=25; 14.8 per 1,000 person‐years) and healthy women (n=305; 21.5 per 1,000 person‐years).

Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that PCOS was not associated with an increased risk of developing CKD (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR], 0.883, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.587–1.328; p=0.551).

The results persisted despite adjustment for potential confounders such as smoking status, body mass index, hypertension, and diabetes at baseline and follow‐up (adjusted HR, 0.911, 95 percent CI, 0.600–1.383; p=0.661).

The theory that PCOS patients may have higher cardiometabolic-related events, including CKD, later in life stemmed from evidence showing that this population have a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors mainly due to hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance, obesity, and central obesity, the researchers explained. Such conditions may lead to disturbances of growth factors, adipokine hormones, and pro-inflammatory factors, along with higher serum endothelin-1 levels, and, subsequently, endothelial dysfunction. [Gynecol Endocrinol 2016;32:343-53; J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006;91:4395-4400; J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007;92:4609-4614; Mol Cell Endocrinol 2011;335:30-41]