ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the relationships of sex hormone and insulin with various TCM syndrome types of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and their significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Levels of testosterone (T), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), prolactin (PRL), estradiol (E2), and insulin (INS) in 120 patients with PCOS were determined respectively, among them, 30 patients were classified by TCM syndrome differentiation as Shen-yin deficiency type (SYiD), 30 as Shen-yang deficiency type (SYaD), 30 as Pi-yang deficiency type (PYD) and 30 as Gan-stagnancy transformed heat type (GSH).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>It was shown that T level in SYiD, serum LH and LH/FSH ratio in SYaD, PRL in GSH and INS in PYD patients were higher as compared with those in patients of other three types (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01), except for the above-mentioned, the differences in all the paired comparisons of all the indexes between TCM types were insignificant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Elevated level of T, LH and LH/FSH ratio, PRL and INS are correlated with the TCM syndrome type of SYiD, SYaD, GSH and PYD in patients with PCOS respectively, and being the clinical characteristics of the corresponding syndromes.</p>