Discovery of distinct protein profiles for polycystic ovary syndrome with and without insulin resistance by surface-enhanced laser adsorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry

ObjectiveTo screen the serum protein expression profiles in patients having polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) with or without insulin resistance (IR) and search for discriminatory proteins.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingReproductive Center of Peking University Third Hospital.Patient(s)Thirty patients with PCOS with IR, 30 patients with PCOS without IR, and 30 control individuals.Intervention(s)Fasting serum samples.Main Outcome Measure(s)Serum protein peak spectrum.Result(s)There were 27 differential protein peaks between patients with PCOS and IR and controls, 17 between patients with PCOS without IR and controls, and 19 between patients with PCOS and IR and patients without IR. Marker proteins from differentially expressed proteins were screened out with use of a support vector machine and were used to establish three diagnostic models for PCOS IR, PCOS non-IR, and IR, respectively.Conclusion(s)There were statistically significantly different serum proteomic patterns in different types of PCOS. With use of ProteinChip combined with the support vector machine, computer diagnostic models for PCOS with and without IR were set up quickly and efficiently. These discriminatory proteins may help us understand the proteomic changes in serum and find out potential biomarkers of PCOS and IR.