Phlebotomy and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Summary

AIMS To study the effects of the decrease in iron tissue depots after scheduled bloodletting on insulin sensitivity, carbohydrate metabolism, classic and non-classic cardiovascular risk factors in patients with functional hyperandrogenism (polycystic ovary syndrome \& idiopathic hyperandrogenism) on standard treatment with combined oral contraceptives (COC) according to usual clinical practice. METHODOLOGY Open label, controlled, parallel, prospective study of 12 months of duration, with 2 randomized arms of follow-up: i) Intervention Group: Patients with functional hyperandrogenism on standard COC treatment randomly allocated to perform scheduled phlebotomies from the third month of treatment to the end of the study (3 times with a 3-month interval between them). ii) Control Group: Patients with functional hyperandrogenism on standard COC treatment randomly allocated to follow-up without bloodletting. The whole group of patients will undergo a comprehensive anthropometric and hormonal assessment, evaluation of classic cardiovascular risk factors (insulin sensitivity and carbohydrate metabolism after a standard oral glucose test- 75 g), lipid profile, ambulatory and office blood pressure monitoring, proinflammatory profile, oxidative stress status, autonomic function assessment, and iron-related metabolism parameters at baseline, after 3-month COC treatment and after reduction of iron tissue depots plus OC in the Intervention Group of patients, and throughout follow-up under treatment with COC in the Control Group of patients. If a significant relationship between circulating hepcidin levels and elevated ferritin concentrations is observed, a study of the potential influence of mutations/polymorphic variants of hepcidin gene on ferritin values will be performed as well.

Timeline

Start

2015-01

Primary completion

2020-06

Completion

2020-06

Publications

• Results Ortiz-Flores AE, Martinez-Garcia MA, Nattero-Chavez L, Alvarez-Blasco F, Fernandez-Duran E, Quintero-Tobar A, Escobar-Morreale HF, Luque-Ramirez M. Iron Overload in Functional Hyperandrogenism: In a Randomized Trial, Bloodletting Does Not Improve Metabolic Outcomes. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2021 Mar 25;106(4):e1559-e1573. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgaa978.
• Results Luque-Ramirez M, Ortiz-Flores AE, Nattero-Chavez L, Martinez-Garcia MA, Insenser M, Alvarez-Blasco F, Fernandez-Duran E, Quintero-Tobar A, de Lope Quinones S, Escobar-Morreale HF. Bloodletting has no effect on the blood pressure abnormalities of hyperandrogenic women taking oral contraceptives in a randomized clinical trial. Sci Rep. 2021 Nov 11;11(1):22097. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-01606-7.
• Results Luque-Ramirez M, Ortiz-Flores AE, Martinez-Garcia MA, Insenser M, Quintero-Tobar A, De Lope Quinones S, Fernandez-Duran E, Nattero-Chavez ML, Alvarez-Blasco F, Escobar-Morreale HF. Effect of Iron Depletion by Bloodletting vs. Observation on Oxidative Stress Biomarkers of Women with Functional Hyperandrogenism Taking a Combined Oral Contraceptive: A Randomized Clinical Trial. J Clin Med. 2022 Jul 3;11(13):3864. doi: 10.3390/jcm11133864.

Drugs

Indications