Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Pattern in Lean and Obese Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The new optical device, Lipometer, permits the noninvasive, quick, safe, and precise measurement of the thickness of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) layers at any given site of the human body. Fifteen anatomically well-defined body sites from neck to calf describe the SAT topography (SAT-Top) like an individual “fingerprint.” SAT-Top was examined in 33 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), in 87 age-matched healthy controls and in 20 Type-II diabetic women. SAT-Top differences of these three groups were described, and, based on a hierarchical cluster analysis, two distinctly different groups of PCOS women, a lean (PCOSL) and an obese (PCOSO) cluster, were found. For visual comparison of the different types of body fat distribution, the 15-dimensional body fat information was condensed to a two-dimensional factor plot by factor analysis. For comparison of the PCOS like body fat distribution with the “healthy” fat pattern, the (previously published) SAT-Top results of 590 healthy women and men (20-70 years old) and 162 healthy girls and boys (7-11 years old) were added to the factor plot. PCOSO women showed a SAT-Top pattern very similar to that of women with Type-II diabetes, even though the diabetic women were on average 30 years older. Compared with their healthy controls, SAT-Top of these PCOSO patients was strongly skewed into the android direction, providing significantly decreased leg SAT development and significantly higher upper body obesity. Compared with healthy women, PCOSL patients had significantly lower total SAT development (even though height, weight, and body mass index did not deviate significantly), showing a slightly lowered amount of body fat in the upper region and a highly significant leg SAT reduction. This type of fat pattern is the same as found in girls and boys before developing their sex specific body fat distribution. We conclude that women with PCOS develop an android SAT-Top, but compared in more detail, we found two typical types of body fat distribution: the “childlike” SAT pattern in lean PCOS patients, and the “diabetic” body fat distribution in obese PCOS women.