Correlates of Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Types in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

[Objective] Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common female health condition caused by a hormonal imbalance due to the ovaries producing excess male hormones, is also considered a chronic endocrine-metabolic syndrome. According to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory, multiple factors including insufficiency of kidney and liver as well as phlegm dampness may result in PCOS. This study aimed to investigate the distribution pattern of TCM syndrome types in patients with PCOS, and to determine the glucose metabolism status among these patients.[Methods] A total of 60 patients diagnosed with PCOS in our center were enrolled in this study. These patients were classified into three groups based on their TCM syndrome types, including phlegm dampness syndrome, liver stagnation syndrome, and kidney insufficiency syndrome. A uniformly formulated basic information sheet was collected, and all of them underwent glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The correlations of body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), and glucose metabolism in patients with different syndromes were compared.[Results] The patients with phlegm dampness syndrome type (n=32) were the most among these 60 patients with PCOS, accounting for 53.33%, followed by liver stagnation syndrome (n=18; 30%) and kidney insufficiency syndrome (n=10; 16.67%). The BMI and WHR of patients with phlegm dampness syndrome were higher than those with liver stagnation syndrome and kidney insufficiency syndrome (P<0.01). There was no significant difference in the incidence of abnormal glucose metabolism (IFG/IGT/diabetes) among the three groups (P>0.05).[Conclusions] The main TCM syndrome type in patients with PCOS is phlegm dampness syndrome, which was linked to obesity and abdominal obesity.