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Exploring the activity of the enzyme 11β-hydroxylase in the polycystic ovary syndrome

  • Sebastião Freitas de Medeiros ORCID logo EMAIL logo , Laura Camila Antunes Angelo , Matheus Antônio Souto de Medeiros , Bruna Barcelo Barbosa and Márcia Marly Winck Yamamoto
Published/Copyright: January 10, 2020

Abstract

Background

Hyperandrogenemic polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may have occult corticosteroidogenic enzyme abnormalities. The current study compares the activities of 11β-hydroxylase between normoandrogenemic PCOS (NA-PCOS) and hyperandrogenemic PCOS (HA-PCOS) phenotypes.

Materials and methods

Anthropometric, and biochemical variables were compared between normal cycling women [n = 272] and those with PCOS [n = 453]; either normoandrogenemic [n = 98] or hyperandrogenemic [n = 355]. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using 11β-hydroxylase enzyme activity as the criterion variable.

Results

11β-Hydroxylase enzyme activity tended to be slightly higher in both PCOS subgroups and did not change with ethnicity. Using univariate logistic regression, 11β-hydroxylase activity in controls was associated with dehydroepiandrosterone, insulin, homeostatic model for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). In NA-PCOS women the activity of 11β-hydroxylase was associated with estradiol (E2), androstenedione (A4), and androstenedione/dehydroepiandrosterone ratio; in the hyperandrogenemic (HA-PCOS) group, 11β-hydroxylase activity associated with sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG), 17-hydroxypregnenolone (17-OHPE), fasting glucose, and β-cell activity. After multivariate logistic regression, androstenedione/dehydroepiandrosterone ratio, and β-cell activity were the best predictors of 11β-hydroxylase activity in controls; in NA-PCOS group only androstenedione/dehydroepiandrosterone ratio was confirmed as a significant predictor of 11β-hydroxylase activity, and in HA-PCOS patients, 17-OHPE and β-cell activity demonstrated to be significant predictors.

Conclusions

11β-Hydroxylase activity was equal in different ethnicities. The prevalence of decreased 11β-hydroxylase activity was higher in the HA-PCOS phenotype. 17-OHPE, and β-cell function are significant predictors of 11β-hydroxylase activity in HA-PCOS subjects. These findings may help to identify which PCOS patient would have benefit in measuring 11-deoxycortisol (compound S) and 11β-hydroxylase enzyme activity.

Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to Springer Edit Proofreading Inc. for revision of the English.

Author statement

  1. Research funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency.

  2. Conflict of interest: The authors fully declare there is either no financial or other conflicts of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of this study.

  3. Informed consent: A specific signed informed consent document approved by the local Committee for Ethics in Research was not necessary at this time because only the medical records of all patients were reviewed.

  4. Ethical approval: The study was approved by the Julio Muller University Hospital Committee for Ethics in research, no. 23108.00718/03-7.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/hmbci-2019-0048).


Received: 2019-08-13
Accepted: 2019-12-03
Published Online: 2020-01-10

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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