Saturated Fat Intake Is Related to Heart Rate Variability in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Abstract

Background/Aims: There is a heightened risk for cardiovascular diseases in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Alterations in heart rate variability (HRV) may reflect subclinical cardiovascular disease, with a putative association between HRV and dietary fat. This study evaluated HRV in PCOS and control women based on the dietary intake of saturated fatty acid (SFA). Methods: Biochemical/hormonal profile, resting metabolic rate, physical activity, HRV in response to the Stroop test, and dietary intake were assessed in 84 PCOS and 54 control women stratified by median SFA intake in the PCOS group (8.5% of daily energy intake). Results: Body mass index (p = 0.041), blood pressure (p < 0.01), and HOMA-IR (p = 0.003) were higher in PCOS vs. controls. PCOS women had higher testosterone (p = 0.001), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (p = 0.012), and free androgen index (p = 0.001), and lower sex hormone-binding globulin levels than controls (p = 0.001). In both groups, the clinical profile and calorie intake were similar between SFA categories. In PCOS, testosterone was lower when SFA intake <8.5%. PCOS women with SFA <8.5% consumed more beans, fruits, and vegetables and had better frequency and time domain HRV indices. No differences in HRV were detected between SFA categories in controls. In PCOS, age and SFA intake were independent predictors of HRV. Conclusions: Lower SFA intake is related to improved cardiovascular autonomic function in PCOS.

Metabolic profile of women with PCOS in Brazil: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Table 2 also presents WC, blood pressure, glucose, and lipid profile of Brazilian women with PCOS and control populations. Only three studies [26,37,44] did not observe a larger WC in PCOS participants vs. controls. Thirteen studies had no data on WC or a control group for comparison.…”

“…Table 1 summarizes the characteristics of studies on Brazilian populations. Seven studies were from the Northeast region [23][24][25][26][27][28][29], thirteen studies were from the Southeast [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42], five studies were from the South [43][44][45][46][47], and two studies were from the Midwest region [48,49]. No data from the North region were available.…”

“…In Brazilian women with PCOS, BMI ranged from 24.2 to 31.9 kg/m 2 ( Table 2). In studies without a BMImatched control group, most PCOS groups had higher BMI than controls [23,24,31,35,[42][43][44][45][46]. The prevalence of obesity in Brazilian women with PCOS diagnosed by Rotterdam criteria was reported in eight studies [26,28,34,39,42,46,48,49].…”

“…HOMA-IR, a marker of insulin resistance, was available in 14 studies, and twelve studies also compared HOMA-IR values in PCOS and controls. In ten studies [24,25,31,32,35,39,[42][43][44]47] HOMA-IR was higher in women with PCOS than in controls ( Table 2). Metabolic syndrome was evaluated in Brazilian women with PCOS in the Northeast, Southeast, and South and showed a homogeneous prevalence among the regions, ranging between 24.6 and 42.9% [28-30, 34, 37, 43, 46] (Table 3).…”

Prevalence and characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome in Brazilian women: protocol for a nation-wide case–control study

“…In addition, information is recorded on the daily and weekly frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption. Eating five or more portions of fruits and vegetables per day, 5–7 days in a week, is defined as a marker of healthy eating 19 20…”