The study found that teenage girls with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have higher levels of the peptide kisspeptin‑10 (also called metastin) in their blood compared to healthy peers, and these higher levels go hand‑in‑hand with higher LH, testosterone, and 2‑hour glucose readings.

This study was designed to: (1) measure metastin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and in adolescent controls; (2) investigate the possible correlations between metastin and PCOS-related reproductive and metabolic disturbances. The study was a clinical study. Nineteen adolescent women with PCOS, twenty-three adult women with the syndrome, and twenty adolescent controls were selected. Blood samples were collected between day 1 and day 5 of a spontaneous bleeding episode in the PCOS groups and of a menstrual cycle of the controls at 9 a.m. after an overnight fast. Circulating levels of LH, FSH, prolactin, testosterone (T), free testosterone, DHEAS, sex hormone-binding globulin, insulin, glucose and metastin were measured. Plasma metastin levels are increased in adolescent women with PCOS compared to adolescent controls. Plasma metastin levels were positively correlated with LH levels, 2-h glucose levels and T levels. These results indicate that metastin is increased in adolescent PCOS women. The increased metastin levels were positively correlated with LH and T levels, and may affect the development of PCOS in adolescents.