Association of polycystic ovary syndrome and a non-dipping blood pressure pattern in young women

OBJECTIVE: The association between polycystic ovarian syndrome and increased cardiovascular disease risk is still a controversial issue. In light of data documenting some common pathways or common end-points, the present study was undertaken to determine whether there is a relationship between sleep blood pressure pattern disturbances and polycystic ovarian syndrome in young women. METHOD: The daytime and nighttime ambulatory blood pressures (BPs) were determined for each subject, according to the actual waking and sleeping times recorded in their individual diaries, in this cross-sectional study. RESULTS: The study group comprised 168 women (mean age: 25.7±5.5) diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, while the control group included 52 age- and BMI-matched healthy subjects (mean age: 26.1±5.4). When nocturnal BP declines very little or not at all, with the BP falling less than 10% during sleep compared with waking values, this pattern is classified as a non-dipping BP pattern. However, the non-dipping pattern of BP changes was significantly more common in polycystic ovarian syndrome patients compared to the control group (p<0.01). The prevalence of a non-dipping BP pattern was 43.4% (73 patients) in polycystic ovarian syndrome patients and 3.9% (2 patients) in the control group. CONCLUSION: Our cross-sectional study revealed that a non-dipping BP pattern is highly prevalent in polycystic ovarian syndrome patients, even if they are young and non-obese.