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Leukocyte telomere length in women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract Aim To study the telomere length and the telomerase activity in women with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods Relevant studies were searched from PubMed, Embase, and LILACS online databases and manual screening. The mean differences (MDs) or standardized MDs (SMDs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. The methodological quality of included studies was evaluated with the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS), and heterogeneity with the I 2 and Tau 2 statistics. Results Six studies including 2109 non-pregnant women with (n = 1155) or without (n = 954) PCOS assessed leukocyte telomere length. There was a non-significant leukocyte telomere length difference (SMD = 0.25, 95% CI: −0.01, 0.51, p = .06, I 2 = 81%, Tau 2 = 0.08) comparing PCOS patients with the control group. Studied PCOS women were younger (MD = −1.39, 95% CI: −2.47, −0.31 years, I 2 = 83%), and had higher body mass index (BMI; MD = 3.66, 95% CI: 2.11, 5.20 kg/m2, I 2 = 94%). There were significantly higher testosterone (SMD = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.65, 1.10) and luteinizing hormone levels (SMD = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.12, 1.08) in women with PCOS as compared to controls. There was a low risk of bias and there were not sufficient studies to meta-analyze other cell types. Conclusions Leukocyte telomere length did not differ between women with and without PCOS. Further studies with large sample sizes and including other outcomes are warranted to further substantiate the reported evidence.