Prostate Specific Antigen in Diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A New Insight

The study from 2016 investigated the use of prostate specific antigen (PSA) as a diagnostic marker for polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) by comparing PSA levels in 165 women with PCOS to those in 40 healthy controls. Results showed that total PSA (TPSA) levels were significantly higher in the PCOS group, with a positive correlation to total testosterone (tT) and the free androgen index (FAI), a marker for hyperandrogenism. However, free PSA (fPSA) levels were undetectable in all participants. The study did not find a correlation between TPSA and metabolic parameters like glucose and insulin, possibly due to the participants' normal BMI. Although TPSA may be a potential marker for hyperandrogenism, FAI was found to have better diagnostic accuracy for PCOS, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 82.1% compared to 66.3% for TPSA in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. The study suggests that further research is needed to confirm the role of TPSA in diagnosing PCOS and other androgen excess disorders.