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 (p > .05). Levels of leptin (11.12 +/- 4.96 ng/ml vs. 18.59 +/- 13.22 ng/ml, p < .001) and PAI-1 (116.40 +/- 36.63 ng/ml vs. 173.19 +/- 52.44 ng/ml, p < .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 vs. 0.43 +/- 0.64 ng/ml, p = .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.