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Endocrine Abstracts (2018) 56 GP165 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.56.GP165

ECE2018 Guided Posters Paediatrics, Developmental ' Female Reproduction (10 abstracts)

Early childhood BMI rise, the adiposity rebound, associates with PCOS diagnosis and obesity at ages 31 and 46 years – analysis of 46-year growth data from birth to adulthood in PCOS

Emilia Koivuaho 1 , Johanna Laru 1 , Jari Jokelainen 2, , Marja Ojaniemi 4 , Katri Puukka 5 , Aimo Ruokonen 5 , Johannes Kettunen 6, , Juha Tapanainen 1, , Stephen Franks 9 , Marjo-Riitta Järvelin 2, , Laure Morin-Papunen 1 , Sylvain Sebert 2, & Terhi Piltonen 1


1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Medical Research Center, PEDEGO Research Unit, Oulu, Finland; 2Center for Life Course Health Research, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; 3Unit of Primary Care, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; 4Department of Children and Adolescents, University of Oulu and Oulu University Hospital, Medical Research Center, PEDEGO Research Unit, Oulu, Finland; 5NordLab Oulu, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Oulu University Hospital, University of Oulu and Medical Research Center, Oulu, Finland; 6Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland. 7Computational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; 8Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 9Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, Imperial College London, London, UK; 10Department of Children, Young People and Families, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Oulu, Finland; 11Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK; 12Department of genomic of complex diseases, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.


Background: The age at adiposity rebound (AR), at which BMI begins to rise after infancy around the age of 5 years, is associated with obesity and metabolic alteration in later life. Given that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has strong metabolic components, early growth patterns could reveal predisposition for PCOS. Thus, we aimed to investigate the associations of growth trajectories from birth to puberty with PCOS diagnosis,vbody composition and hyperandrogenism later in adulthood.

Materials and methods: In this prospective, population-based longitudinal Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 study, women reporting isolated PCOS symptoms at age 31 (n=651), or PCOS diagnosis by age 46 (n=280) were compared with asymptomatic women (n=1573). Growth data from birth to 13 years, weight, height, serum testosterone levels at menarche, 14, 31 and/or 46 years were analyzed. Findings: Women with PCOS had lower birth weight (3406 vs. 3507 g, P<0.001), earlier AR (5.19 vs 5.60 years, P<0.001) and higher BMI at menarche compared with controls. Early timing of AR associated with PCOS-diagnosis independently from BMI (OR:1.62, Cl: 1.37–1.92). Women with PCOS with early AR had an adverse body composition at age 31 and 46 compared with controls with early AR or PCOS with normal/late AR. Early AR was not associated with serum testosterone levels either at 31 years or 46 years.

Conclusions: Early AR is a risk factor for PCOS and high BMI later in life, thus, children with early AR should be considered at risk for adulthood obesity but also for PCOS. Thus, adolescents with early AR and persisting high BMI at menarche should be screened for PCOS symptoms, such as persisting irregular cycles and hirsutism.

Volume 56

20th European Congress of Endocrinology

Barcelona, Spain
19 May 2018 - 22 May 2018

European Society of Endocrinology 

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