Serum ferritin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
Virtanen, Nikke; Arffman, Riikka K; Saarela, Ulla; Pesonen, Emilia; Hurskainen, Elisa; Luiro, Kaisu; Rajecki, Maria; Savukoski, Susanna M; Kangasniemi, Marika H; Kinnunen, Jenni; Koivunen, Peppi; Piltonen, Terhi (2025-01-11)
Virtanen, Nikke
Arffman, Riikka K
Saarela, Ulla
Pesonen, Emilia
Hurskainen, Elisa
Luiro, Kaisu
Rajecki, Maria
Savukoski, Susanna M
Kangasniemi, Marika H
Kinnunen, Jenni
Koivunen, Peppi
Piltonen, Terhi
Elsevier
11.01.2025
Nikke Virtanen, Riikka K. Arffman, Ulla Saarela, Emilia Pesonen, Elisa Hurskainen, Kaisu Luiro, Maria Rajecki, Susanna M. Savukoski, Marika H. Kangasniemi, Jenni Kinnunen, Peppi Koivunen, Terhi Piltonen, Serum ferritin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome, Fertility and Sterility, 2025, ISSN 0015-0282, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2025.01.004
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202502041450
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202502041450
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Objective:
To study ferritin levels, and potential factors influencing them, in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and investigate potential associations between ferritin levels and other parameters in these women.
Design:
Longitudinal general population-based cohort study, including data from both questionnaires and clinical measurements.
Subjects:
The study was conducted with data from the participants of the Women’s Health Study, including a total of 1,918 Finnish women aged approximately 35 years.
Exposure:
Polycystic ovary syndrome was defined according to the Rotterdam criteria by the presence of at least 2 of the following findings: oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea, hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical), and polycystic ovarian morphology.
Main Outcome Measures:
Serum ferritin levels and other parameters were determined from the cohort data, and the associations between ferritin levels and other investigated parameters were investigated with linear regression models.
Results:
Women with PCOS had significantly higher median ferritin levels than those without PCOS (51.43 μg/L vs. 44.85 μg/L). Low ferritin levels were less common among women with PCOS who had oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea compared with those among women who did not (1.5% vs. 11.8%). The median ferritin levels were also found to be lower in hyperandrogenic women with PCOS than in those with normoandrogenemia (49.96 μg/L vs. 73.50 μg/L). Women with PCOS had higher fasting insulin levels than those without PCOS (8.85 mU/L vs. 7.60 mU/L), and a positive association between fasting insulin and ferritin levels was found in the whole population (effect size, 0.0619; 95% confidence interval, 0.005–0.119). Finally, associations between ferritin levels and history of infertility were investigated in both the total population and women with PCOS; however, no significant associations were found.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that women with PCOS have higher ferritin levels than those without PCOS and that both the decreased blood loss from irregular menstruation and increased androgen levels can influence ferritin levels in women with PCOS. A metabolic connection was also found because the serum insulin levels were associated positively with the serum ferritin levels in the total population, whereas the history of infertility did not seem to be associated with the serum ferritin levels in any of the study groups.
Objective:
To study ferritin levels, and potential factors influencing them, in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and investigate potential associations between ferritin levels and other parameters in these women.
Design:
Longitudinal general population-based cohort study, including data from both questionnaires and clinical measurements.
Subjects:
The study was conducted with data from the participants of the Women’s Health Study, including a total of 1,918 Finnish women aged approximately 35 years.
Exposure:
Polycystic ovary syndrome was defined according to the Rotterdam criteria by the presence of at least 2 of the following findings: oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea, hyperandrogenism (clinical or biochemical), and polycystic ovarian morphology.
Main Outcome Measures:
Serum ferritin levels and other parameters were determined from the cohort data, and the associations between ferritin levels and other investigated parameters were investigated with linear regression models.
Results:
Women with PCOS had significantly higher median ferritin levels than those without PCOS (51.43 μg/L vs. 44.85 μg/L). Low ferritin levels were less common among women with PCOS who had oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea compared with those among women who did not (1.5% vs. 11.8%). The median ferritin levels were also found to be lower in hyperandrogenic women with PCOS than in those with normoandrogenemia (49.96 μg/L vs. 73.50 μg/L). Women with PCOS had higher fasting insulin levels than those without PCOS (8.85 mU/L vs. 7.60 mU/L), and a positive association between fasting insulin and ferritin levels was found in the whole population (effect size, 0.0619; 95% confidence interval, 0.005–0.119). Finally, associations between ferritin levels and history of infertility were investigated in both the total population and women with PCOS; however, no significant associations were found.
Conclusion:
Our results suggest that women with PCOS have higher ferritin levels than those without PCOS and that both the decreased blood loss from irregular menstruation and increased androgen levels can influence ferritin levels in women with PCOS. A metabolic connection was also found because the serum insulin levels were associated positively with the serum ferritin levels in the total population, whereas the history of infertility did not seem to be associated with the serum ferritin levels in any of the study groups.
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