Serum Copper Level and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Introduction: The association of serum copper with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) has been studied for years, but no definite conclusion is drawn. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate serum copper concentrations in PCOS subjects compared with healthy controls.

Methods: Electronic search was performed in PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus up to June 30, 2020, without any restriction. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) with corresponding 95% CIs in serum copper levels were employed with random-effects model. I2 was applied to evaluate heterogeneity among studies.

Results: Nine studies, measuring plasma copper levels in 1,168 PCOS patients and 1,106 controls, were included. Pooled effect size suggested serum copper level was significantly higher in women with PCOS (SMD = 0.51 μg/mL, 95% CI = [0.30, 0.72], p < 0.0001). The overall heterogeneity was not connected with subgroups of the country, but derived from the opposite result of 1 study.

Conclusion: Our research generally indicated circulating copper level in PCOS sufferers was significantly higher than normal controls. Large-scale studies are still needed to elucidate the clear relation between copper status and etiology of PCOS.

Keywords: Copper; Meta-analysis; Polycystic ovarian syndrome.