Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based metabolomics of urine steroids in women with different phenotypes of polycystic ovary syndrome

This article presents an analysis of the metabolism of androgens, glucocorticoid hormones, and progestins obtained by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in 56 women with obesity and hyperandrogenia in comparison with 23 women with alimentary-constitutional obesity and 25 healthy women. An increase in urinary excretion of androsterone, 16-oxo-androstenediol (16-oxo-dA2), and α-tetrahydrometabolites of cortisone and corticosterone has been established in 25 women with polycystic-altered ovaries according to ultrasound, with urinary excretion of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its metabolites (dA2-17β, 16β-DHEA, 16-oxo-dA2, and androstentriol), α- and β-metabolites of glucocorticoids and androstenedione, and 5-en-pregnans increased in 31 women without signs of polycystic ovaries according to ultrasound. A decrease in the tetrahydrocortisol/tetrahydrocortisone ratio was found in women with polycystic ovaries, indicating a decrease in the activity of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1. Evidence for the increased 5α-reductase activity was obtained in women with different phenotypes of polycystic ovary syndrome.