Effect of long-term treatment with metformin added to hypocaloric diet on body composition, fat distribution, and androgen and insulin levels in abdominally obese women with and without the polycystic ovary syndrome.

Abdominal obesity and hyperinsulinemia play a key role in the development of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Dietary-induced weight loss and the administration of insulin-lowering drugs, such as metformin, are usually followed by improved hyperandrogenism and related clinical abnormalities. This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of combined hypocaloric diet and metformin on body weight, fat distribution, the glucose-insulin system, and hormones in a group of 20 obese PCOS women [body mass index (BMI) > 28 kg/m2] with the abdominal phenotype (waist to hip ratio >0.

The natural history of the metabolic syndrome in young women with the polycystic ovary syndrome and the effect of long-term oestrogen-progestagen treatment.

Objective: Little is known about the natural history of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), although preliminary data indicate that affected women are more susceptible than the general population to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at post-menopausal ages. The aim of this study was to follow-up all main features of the metabolic syndrome in a group of young women with PCOS and to investigate the long-term effects on metabolism and body composition of oestrogen-progestagen (OP) compounds, which are frequently used in these women to treat hyperandrogenism and related clinical features.

Design: Long-term follow-up study.

ACTH and cortisol response to combined corticotropin releasing hormone-arginine vasopressin stimulation in obese males and its relationship to body weight, fat distribution and parameters of the metabolic syndrome.

Objectives: To investigate the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in male obesity and its relationship with several prominent parameters of the metabolic syndrome.

Design: A cross-sectional clinical study of the activity of the HPA axis in groups of obese males and normal-weight controls.

Subjects: Seventeen obese non-diabetic males with a body mass index (BMI) >28 and eight normal-weight controls were examined.