A team of scientists has found an enzyme that heightens male hormones and metabolic complications like Type-2 diabetes and fatty liver disease, in women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The enzyme is known as AKR1C3 that activates male hormone in the fat tissue of women with PCOS. It also increase the risk of metabolic-related disorders including type-2 diabetes and fatty liver disease. According to the researchers from the University of Birmingham, the ezyme causes increased activation of male hormones in women suffering from PCOS.
Apart from irregular periods and compromised fertility, PCOS women regularly have high levels of male hormones, known as androgens, circulating in their blood stream. They increase the problems like male-pattern body growth and acne. The hormones levels in abdominal fat tissue is more than that measured in their blood.
Lead author of the study, Wiebke Arlt said that the increased activation of male hormones cause increased build-up of lipid droplets in the fat cells and eventually, to fatty acid overspill into the circulation. Arlt described that the fat cells become less receptive and greater levels of insulin are produced. This augmented insulin then leads to even higher levels of AKR1C3.
Another researcher Dr Michael O'Reilly explained that the study is particularly exciting because it highlights the role that body fat plays in generating excess male hormones in PCOS women, which then act locally to disrupt the ability of the body's fat to store lipid effectively.
"The finding provides a new treatment that reduces the risk of diabetes and fatty liver disease in women with PCOS," O'Reilly said.
The study appears in the journal of Clinical Endocrinology &Metabolism.
(With ANI Inputs)
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