Clinical changes of leptin/ghrelin and PAI-1 levels in adolescent girls with abnormal uterine bleeding-ovulatory dysfunction.

Objective: To observe and compare the expression of energy regulators (leptin/ghrelin) and PAI-1 in girls with abnormal uterine bleeding-ovulatory dysfunction (AUB-O) and healthy adolescent girls.

Methods: A total of 80 adolescent girls were studied including 60 with AUB-O and 20 healthy girls. All the general characteristics of subjects including height, weight, age, and age at menarche were collected after consent. The concentration of plasma leptin, ghrelin, PAI-1, and sex hormones was examined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and DXI800 Access immunoassay system respectively.

Results: Two groups were comparable in the age at menarche, visiting age, postmenarchal years, and BMI SDS ( > .05). Levels of leptin (11.12 ± 4.96 ng/ml 18.59 ± 13.22 ng/ml,  < .001) and PAI-1 (116.40 ± 36.63 ng/ml 173.19 ± 52.44 ng/ml,  < .001) in girls with AUB-O were significantly lower than that in healthy girls, and the levels of ghrelin were significantly higher than that in healthy girls (1.52 ± 4.20 ng/ml 0.43 ± 0.64 ng/ml,  = .01). At the same time, we also found that girls with AUB-O showed negative correlation between the level of leptin, ghrelin, and estradiol.

Conclusions: Energy metabolism and coagulation might play a role in the development of AUB-O in adolescent girls.