A Study on Correlation Between Acanthosis Nigricans And Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) in Indian Adult Women Population

Objective: To find the correlation of the clinical and biochemical parameters in Indian adult women with PCOS with and without AN. Materials and Methods: 98 adult women (20-35years) with PCOS as per Rotterdam 2003 criteria were studied. Clinical parameters recorded Body mass index (BMI), abdominal circumference (AC), blood pressure (BP), hirsutism score (modified FerrimanGallwey score m FG ≥ 6), presence of acne and acanthosis (AN). Transabdominal ultrasonography (USG) was done in each case. Hormonal parameters studied Serum total testosterone (TT) level, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) level. Free androgen index (FAI) was calculated. Metabolic parameters studied – fasting plasma glucose (FG) and insulin (FI) levels. Glucose: insulin (G:I) ratio and HOMA (homeostasis model assessment) were calculated. Studied women were divided into two groups Group A: With acanthosis nigricans 30 cases. Group B: Without acanthosis nigricans68 cases. Observations: Statistically significant differences between the means of groups with and without AN were found in the following variables BMI (p value=0.0001); AC (p value=0.0001); SBP (p value=0.0001); DBP (p value= 0.01); FG (p value=0.12); SHBG (p value=0.0001); FAI (p value=0.0009); GI ratio (p value=0.0003) and HOMA (p value=0.0001). Bivariate positive Correlation with AN was observed between AC, BMI, SBP, DBP, Testosterone, FAI, and HOMA. Bivariate negative correlation with AN was observed with FG, SHBG and GI ratio. In terms of correlation coefficients, AN has the highest correlation with AC, followed by BMI and SHBG. Conclusion: AN is a cutaneous manifestation of increased abdominal obesity in adult women having PCOS. Significance of AN as a clinical marker of increased metabolic risk in PCOS need further studies.