Hormonal responses to physical exercise in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Abstract

Objective: To examine the effects of obesity and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) on the endocrine responses to physical exercise.

Setting: Outpatient clinic of reproductive endocrinology at the University Central Hospital of Turku and the Department of Pharmacology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.

Patients: Nine oligomenorrheic women with PCOS (body mass index [BMI] 19.5 to 46.0 kg/m2) and eight control women with regular menstrual cycles (BMI 20.0 to 53.5 kg/m2).

Interventions: A bicycle ergometer test was performed at 8 A.M.

Results: The only hormone response that was different between PCOS patients and controls was the exercise-induced increase in circulating GH levels. This response was significantly greater in controls than in PCOS patients. There was also a negative correlation between the GH response and BMI. The increases in the concentrations of adrenaline, noradrenaline, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylglycol, glucose, and insulin:C-peptide ratios during the bicycle ergometer test were correlated negatively to BMI.

Conclusion: Obesity is an important determinant of the hormonal responses to physical exercise. This applies also to women with PCOS. Taking obesity into account in the analysis of exercise-induced hormone responses, only little, if any, of the variation in the hormonal responses measured by us could be attributed to PCOS per se. The only hormone response that was different between PCOS patients and controls was the GH response.