The androgenic sex hormone profile is an essential feature of metabolic syndrome in premenopausal women:: a controlled community-based study

Objective: To evaluate sex hormones in premenopausal white women with metabolic syndrome (MBS). Design: Cross-sectional controlled community-based study. Setting: Pieksamaki District Health Center, Pieksamaki, Finland. Patient(s): Five hundred forty-three women, aged 34 to 54 years, were screened according to National Cholesterol Education Program criteria: waist >88 cm, hypertension greater than or equal to130/greater than or equal to85 mm Hg, hypertriglyceridemia greater than or equal to1.7 mmol/L, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol <1.3 mmol/L, and fasting glucose >= 6.1 mmol/L. Sixty-three women fulfilled at least three of the above-mentioned criteria and were enrolled. Eighty-eight age-matched women without MBS served as controls. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Sex steroid levels in relation to insulin sensitivity and body composition. Result(s): A markedly lower insulin sensitivity index and higher free androgen index were detected in the women with MBS than in the controls. Abdominal obesity and increased diastolic blood pressure were significantly associated with high free androgen index in multiple regression analysis. Conclusion(s): A hyperandrogenic hormone profile appeared to be a typical feature of premenopausal female MBS even without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).