Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-B Is Elevated In Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome And Can Be Decreased With Metformin Treatment

Objective: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) mostly are characterized by heterogeneous clinical manifestations, like insulin resistance(IR) and/or β-cell dysfunction. Vascular endothelial growth factor B(VEGF-B) has been demonstrated to play an important role in IR and glucose metabolism in animal models of type 2 diabetes(T2DM).There are no data focused on the relationship between serum VEGF-B levels and IR/β-cell dysfunction in patients with PCOS. This study was aimed at determining serum VEGF-B levels in PCOS, their association with IR and β-cell dysfunction, and the effect of metformin on serum VEGF-B levels.Method: This study recruited 103 women with PCOS and 96age-matched healthy controls. Serum VEGF-B levels were determined in all participants, and 44 PCOS patients randomly received metformin treatment. We measured height, age, weight, body massive index(BMI),waist-to-hip(WHR), blood pressure, blood lipids, and sex hormone. Thesevolunteers also underwent oral glucose tolerance test(OGTT) and euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp. IR was expressed using HOMO-IR or M value. β-cell function indices included HOMA-β, △I30/△G30,AUCins/glu, DI0, DI30 and DI120. VEGF-B levels were measured in healthy controls and women with polycystic ovary syndrome before and after metformin treatment.Results: Women with PCOS had higher serum VEGF-B levels, which decreased with metformin treatment. In the lean and overweight/obese groups, patients with PCOS had higher plasma VEGF-B levels than did healthy controls(P < 0.05). VEGF-B levels were correlated with BMI,body fat percentage, M values, HOMA-IR, and β-cell function indices. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that VEGF-B level was associated with M values after adjusting for age, BMI, serum sex hormones,and serum lipids in women with PCOS.Conclusions: Serum VEGF-B is significantly higher in women with PCOS and is closely and positively related to IR. Metformin treatment reduces VEGF-B levels and ameliorates insulin resistance.