ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Obstetrics and Gynecology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1652954
This article is part of the Research Topic25 Years of 21st Century MedicineView all 18 articles
Ovarian Lipid Metabolic Alterations in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Insights from Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Provisionally accepted
- Jinshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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Abstract Objectives: Altered ovarian lipid metabolism plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). This study is to evaluate and compare ovarian lipid metabolic profiles in PCOS patients and healthy controls using Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Method: This is a one center prospective study. Single-voxel 1H-MRS was used to identify the lipid metabolism in 50 PCOS patients and 40 healthy controls (training cohort). 34 and 39 subjects from PCOSs and controls were successfully performed 1H-MRS on the contralateral ovaries (test cohort). Key lipid metabolites were identified and quantified using LCModel software. A combination of the key lipids using binary logistic regression was constructed to enhance the discrimination efficiency between PCOS and the controls. Results: Significant elevations were observed in lipid metabolites MM09+Lip09, MM14+Lip13a+Lip13b+MM12, MM21+Lip21, Lip23, and Lip28 (e.g., MM09, macromolecule signal at 0.9 ppm; Lip09, lipid signal at 0.9 ppm) in PCOS patients compared to controls. The combination model of key lipids reached an AUC of 0.89, with 95% confidence interval (CI) of (0.83-0.95), and a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 0.76, 0.95, 0.95, 0.76, respectively, in the training cohort; and 0.88 (95%CI: 0.80-0.95), 0.76, 0.87, 0.84, 0.81, respectively in the test cohort. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed significant involvement of fatty acid metabolism, phospholipid synthesis, lipid signaling, and membrane organization pathways. Conclusion: The study highlights significant lipid metabolic disruptions in PCOS. Lip23 and Lip28 emerged as potential biomarkers for PCOS diagnosis. These findings enhance the understanding of PCOS pathophysiology and provide a foundation for future targeted therapeutic approaches.
Keywords: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Lipid Metabolism, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, fatty acid metabolism, lipid biomarkers
Received: 24 Jun 2025; Accepted: 25 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Yang, Ding, Zeng, LI and Qiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ying LI, dr.yingli@foxmail.com
Jinwei Qiang, dr.jinweiqiang@163.com
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