Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) represents the most common cause of anovulatory infertility and affects 6-15% of women of reproductive age. However, the underlying etiology is still poorly understood. In this study, we attempted to examine the association between circulating heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) concentrations and PCOS in a non-obese Chinese population.
Methods and results: Human peripheral blood from 52 patients with PCOS and 57 healthy controls, matched for age and BMI, were analyzed. Women with PCOS were found to have significantly higher fasting insulin (FI) levels, as well as Insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR) (P < 0.05). Identically, markers of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-Hydroxy-desoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), Nitric oxide (NO)) and inflammation (tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein (CRP)) were markedly increased when compared to controls (P < 0.05). Elevated serum Hsp70 was positively correlated with IR, oxidative stress and inflammation in PCOS, even after adjustment for age, BMI and gynecologic inflammation (GI). The receiver-operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis yielded notably different discriminative value for PCOS, with or without an addition of Hsp70 (areas under the curves were 0.884 (95% CI 0.822-0.946) vs. 0.822 (95% CI 0.744-0.900); P for difference = 0.015).
Conclusions and significance: Increased serum Hsp70 levels are associated with the combination of IR, oxidative stress and low-grade chronic inflammation in PCOS individuals, which provides supportive evidence that Hsp70 plays a key role in the pathogenesis of PCOS. More consequent studies were warranted to confirm the clinical utility of circulating Hsp70, especially in diagnosis and prognosis of PCOS and its long-term health cost.