A Review on Glycosylated Hemoglobin in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common reproductive endocrine disorders among women of reproductive age, with a variety of complications and consequences mostly due to hyperandrogenism and insulin resistance (IR). PCOS patients with IR are at risk for metabolic syndrome and diabetes mellitus (DM) along with its complications such as cardiovascular events. There are several methods for screening IR in patients with PCOS to predict DM and other complications. Fasting plasma glucose test, oral glucose tolerance test, and insulin and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAl c) levels are some available screening tools for IR. The American Diabetes Association recommended HbAl c to screen for DM because HbAl c is not affected by day-to-day plasma glucose levels and reflects the plasma glucose status during 2-3 months before measurement. Some studies have evaluated the role of HbAl c as a screening method to predict DM in PCOS patients, however, there are still controversies in this matter. Also some studies repotted that HbAl c has a correlation with complications of PCOS such as metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular events. We found that HbAl c could be a suitable screening test for IR in PCOS patients but more studies are recommended, omitting confounding factors that could affect IR in patients with PCOS, such as antihyperglycemic agents like metformin, or lifestyle modification, which can be effective in reducing IR in patients with PCOS.