CALICO Database
Welcome to the Clinical Adolescent Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Database and Consortium!
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a chronic familial disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism and anovulation. Depending on the diagnostic criteria, PCOS affects 6-15% of women. Despite presenting in adolescence, specific criteria to diagnose PCOS in youth were only described within the last 8 years. Women and teens with PCOS also typically experience metabolic co-morbidities including insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes (T2D), metabolic associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and higher rates of psychological disease. However adolescent PCOS represents a very heterogenous group of patients with variable reproductive and metabolic phenotypes. In preliminary studies, we have found distinct reproductive phenotype, including higher luteinizing hormone (LH), androstenedione, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and testosterone levels. Additionally, we and others have noted stark differences in metabolic phenotypes among PCOS patients reflecting underling racial and ethnic differences. Specifically, we found that 70% of Hispanic youth with an elevated HbA1c and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) at time of PCOS diagnosis had T2D within 4 years. These data suggest that phenotyping of girls with PCOS will help with diagnosis, short-term treatment, and long-term surveillance for metabolic disease. Through this proposal we will characterize a heterogenous adolescent PCOS cohort treated at 20 academic and community centers across the US.
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