Levels of a novel metabolic marker, spexin in patients with hirsutism: metabolic syndrome risk in idiopathic and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) hirsutism

Abstract

Objectives: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) disease the most common endocrinopathy among reproductive age women, and its association with metabolic syndrome is investigated in many reports. The most common cause of hirsutism worldwide is considered to be idiopathic hirsutism (IH) defined as clinical hirsutism without underlying hormonal imbalance. Spexin is a novel peptide and is mainly involved in energy homeostasis and, has not yet made its way into clinical practice. We aim to investigate spexin in an understudied population of hirsute patients. Material and methods: This prospective casecontrol study analysis involved 48 patients with hirsutism.and, was further divided into two groups: 26 had PCOS syndrome and 22 had IH. 40 healthy, age and BMImatched nonhirsute women enrolled as the control group. The spexin level was determined using a human spexin ELISA kit. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in spexin levels found between hirsutism and control patients 1514 vs 1425 ng/L, (p = 0.849). Spexin levels were found to be significantly higher in the PCOS hirsutism group than in the IH group (1668.5 ng/L vs 1021 ng/L), (p = 0.022). Correlations of spexin levels with total testosterone, lowdensity lipoprotein, and total cholesterol were found in hirsutism patients. Conclusions: Our findings conclude that both IH and PCOS hirsutism patients have an increased risk of metabolic syndrome; hyperandrogenemia and dyslipidemia contribute to the progression of upcoming research on metabolic syndrome. Low spexin levels in IH in hirsute patients could potentially elucidate the pathogenesis of the condition, consequently assisting in diminishing the risk of associated complications.