Abstract

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) has been one of the major public health problems in Sudan, which leads to medical consequences. It is caused by several factors such as menstrual dysfunction, hyperandrogenism, hirsutism, dyslipidemia, and obesity, which elevate the risk of diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease.
Objective: To know the lipid profile variation in Sudanese women with PCOS.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive, analytic, cross-sectional, and hospital-based study was conducted in Khartoum state, Sudan; it was carried out from March 2013 to May 2014.The subjects enrolled for the study included 200 women with PCOS who were compared with 100 healthy women of the control group; all of them were age and weight matched. Samples were taken after overnight fasting, and then serum lipid levels were analyzed using enzymatic colorimetric methods. Data management and analysis were done by using Microsoft Excel and SPSS software, version 20.00. Result: The mean age of patients with PCOS was 29.61 ± 5.4 years, and the mean age of subjects in the control group was 31.23 ± 4.93 years. Lipid profile parameters in PCOS group were as follows: the (mean ± SD) of serum triglyceride, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were 89.89 ± 33.36 mg/dL, 166.95 ± 46.94 mg/dL, 43.83 ± 20.75 mg/dL, and 104.55 ± 52.209 mg/dL, respectively, while those of control group were 82.13 ± 26.51 mg/dL, 145.14 ± 31.019 mg/dL, 51.02 ± 14.81 mg/dL, and 72.62 ± 30.04 mg/dL, respectively. There were statistically significant increased levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) in PCOS group when compared with the control group (P < 0.05) and decreased level of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C). Conclusion: The altered lipid profile in PCOS patients showed a sign of cardiovascular disease.