Can triglyceride related indices be reliable markers in the assessment of polycystic ovarian syndrome?

Abstract Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of the triglyceride glucose (TyG), triglyceride glucose–body mass (TyG-BMI), and lipid accumulation product (LAP) indices for both screening polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and diagnosing insulin resistance (IR) in women diagnosed with PCOS. Methods Retrospective data from medical records of 124 women were analyzed, with 71 in the PCOS group and 53 in the non-PCOS group. The PCOS diagnosis followed the 2003 Rotterdam criteria. Basic clinical and biochemical parameters were compared. The TyG index was computed using the formula ln [triglyceride (TG) (mmol/L) × fasting plasma glukose (FPG) (mg/dL)/2]. TyG-BMI value was derived as TyG × BMI. LAP was calculated as (waist circumference (WC-58) × TG (mmol/L). IR was identified if Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was >2.7. Results TyG-BMI (AUC=0.62) and LAP indices (AUC=0.61) did not demonstrate statistically significant diagnostic performance for PCOS. Regarding IR in PCOS patients, the highest AUC was for TyG-BMI (0.84, 95 % CI: 0.73–0.93, p<0.001) with a cutoff at 116.15, showing 80 % sensitivity and 86 % specificity. LAP had an AUC of 0.86 with a cutoff of 30.21 (sensitivity 80 %, specificity 81 %), while TyG showed an AUC of 0.78 (95 % CI: 0.67–0.89, p<0.001) with a cutoff of 4.47, demonstrating a sensitivity of 70 % and specificity of 72 %. Conclusions Numerous biochemical markers have been explored for PCOS detection, however, many are expensive, not universally available, and necessitate specific test kits. TyG, TyG-BMI, and LAP indices might not serve as reliable markers for PCOS screening but could offer utility in identifying IR in Turkish women diagnosed with PCOS.