From Placenta to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: The Role of Adipokines

Table 4

Main findings published in the literature concerning the relationship between adiponectin, leptin and onset of PCOS.

Author	Adipokine studied	Type of study	In vivo/species	Main conclusions
Comim et al. [105]	Adiponectin	Case control	In vitro/humans and bovine	There is strong evidence for a direct link between fat cell metabolism and ovarian steroidogenesis, suggesting that disruption of adiponectin and/or its receptors plays a key role in pathogenesis of hyperandrogenism in PCOS.
Toulis et al. [129]	Adiponectin	Meta analysis	In vivo/humans	Adiponectin levels seem to be lower in women with PCOS compared with non-PCOS controls.; Low levels of adiponectin in PCOS are probably related to insulin resistance but not to testosterone levels.; Total adiponectin should not be used as a biomarker of PCOS severity.; Further investigations are needed to understand the role of high molecular weight adiponectin levels in PCOS.
Svendsen et al. [131]	Adiponectin, leptin	Cross-sectional	In vivo/humans	PCOS does not appear to have an independent effect on the adipose expression of leptin, adiponectin, and IL-6 or the circulating adipocytokines.
Li et al. [127]	Leptin	Case control	In vivo/humans	A significant association was found between the Pro1019Pro in LEPR gene and PCOS, and a highly significant association was found between the Gln223Arg in LEPR gene and PCOS.