Association between polycystic ovarian syndrome, overweight, and metabolic syndrome in adolescents.

PURPOSE: Polycystic syndrome (PCOS) is associated with multiple metabolic abnormalities. Studies in the adolescent population are still limited and the results have been much different. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between PCOS, overweight, and metabolic syndrome in adolescents. METHODS: 30 PCOS adolescents were randomly selected from a PCOS population with NIH 1990 criteria and 71 adolescents from the normal adolescents. Anthropometric, hormonal and metabolic parameters were evaluated in four sub-groups including obese and non-obese PCOS and obese and non-obese normal adolescents. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and metabolic syndrome in adolescents with PCOS was 52% and 33.3% respectively vs 22.4% (P = 0.005) and 11.26% in control (normal) adolescents (P = 0.0001). Among all subjects, including obese and non-obese adolescents with or without PCOS, the prevalence of insulin resistance, hypercholesterolemia, central obesity, and metabolic syndrome was higher in obese PCOS with 61.5%, 46.2%, 53.8%, and 69.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity and IR are important risk factors for metabolic syndrome in PCOS. Considering the long-term health risks, it is necessary to identify metabolic disorders in adolescents with PCOS as early as possible.

Nasal eosinophilia as a marker for allergic rhinitis: a controlled study of 50 patients.

Eosinophils are the principal effector cells involved in the pathogenesis of allergic inflammation. We conducted a study to investigate the validity of the nasal smear examination for detecting eosinophilia in patients with allergic rhinitis. Our study group was made up of 50 patients with allergic rhinitis and 50 age- and sex-matched controls without allergic rhinitis. Smears were obtained from nasal secretions in both groups and then fixed, stained, and studied under light microscopy. Statistical analysis revealed that the odds ratio for eosinophilia positivity in nasal smears in the rhinitis group was 25.61 with a 95% confidence interval of 8 to 78. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of this test were 74, 90, 88, and 77%, respectively. We conclude that the nasal eosinophilia test is highly specific and moderately sensitive in diagnosing allergic rhinitis, and that it therefore can be used as an easy, noninvasive, and inexpensive procedure for screening patients and for conducting epidemiologic studies of this disorder.