Fasting complement concentrations in insulin-resistant
PCOS subjects and healthy controls
The clinical, metabolic and anthropometric characteristics of cohort 1
are shown in table S1. As anticipated, PCOS women had higher androgen
levels and worse insulin sensitivity, even after adjustment for age and
BMI. Table 1 shows the concentration of plasma complement components and
activation products in PCOS subjects and controls, before and after
adjustment. Plasma C3, C3a(desArg), C3a(desArg)/C3 ratio and TCC levels
were significantly increased in the PCOS group compared to controls,
even after adjustment. Factor B, factor H, and factor D were all
significantly increased in PCOS before, but not after, adjustment for
BMI, age and smoking. Conversely, properdin was significantly increased
in the PCOS group but only after adjusting for age, BMI and smoking.
Figure 1 shows the fasting plasma concentrations of C3, C3a(desArg) and
TCC in PCOS subjects and healthy controls, stratified according to BMI.
C3 levels increased across BMI categories in both groups but
between-group differences were only apparent in obesity (mean difference
± SEM; 0.22 ± 0.1 g/l; p< 0.05). In contrast, C3a(desArg) and
TCC levels were not affected by BMI.