Effect of Junk Food on Hormonal and Metabolic Manifestations in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Phenotypes: A Case-Control Study of Kashmiri Population

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is the most common endocrinopathy with heterogeneous symptomatology and diverse etiological links. Apart from genetic predisposition, environmental toxins, lifestyle, diet have been seen as contributing factors in shaping the disease. This study was taken to underpin the phenotypic status of PCOS in Kashmiri population and to compare their metabolic and endocrinological features. We explored the relationship between the junk food consumption patterns with the clinical features of PCOS phenotypes and controls. A total of 404 PCOS patients and 126 controls were recruited and cases were classified as per Rotterdam criteria. Anthropometric measurements and biochemical parameters of both cases and controls were taken. A detailed account on the type and frequency of outdoor foods eaten was focused and accordingly the study population was classified into voracious eaters, moderately eaters and rarely eaters of junk food. We found highest prevalence of phenotype A, n = 131 (32.8%) with full-blown symptoms in terms of obesity, IR, hirsutism, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome in our population. Phenotype D was found to be least prevalent n = 72 (17.7%) with milder form of symptoms. Our study is the first to unravel the phenotypic status of PCOS in Kashmiri population employing Rotterdam criteria and undertake dietary factor to relate with the pathogenesis of this disease. There was a notable association between an increasingly affluent diet, the presence of hirsutism, raised body mass index, obesity and metabolic syndrome in our population, making diet as an imperative factor to govern PCOS presentation. This study clearly implies the effect of unhealthy dietary habits to be associated with increasingly severe phenotype of PCOS, which can likely have implications on metabolic and fertility outcomes.