Salivary Free Testosterone and Gingival Health Condition among a Group of Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders affecting women in their reproductive age.It is characterized by anovulation or oligo-ovulation and hyperandrogensim.Androgen excess is the central defect in polycystic ovary syndrome. It is a complex disorder affects general health in addition to oral health.This study aimed to assess the gingival health status among a group of women with polycystic ovary syndrome as well as to estimate the levels of salivaryfree testosterone in unstimulated saliva in relation to gingival health condition. Materials and methods: Sixty two women with an age range 20-25 years old and with a body mass index range18.5-24.9 (normal weight) were included in this study. They were divided into two groups; the study group which included thirty one women with polycystic ovary syndrome, those women. nattended Babylon Teaching Hospital/ Infertility Center and the control group which included thirty one women with regular menstrual cycles,without clinical or biochemical features of hyperandrogenism and ultrasound exclusion of polycystic ovary (without polycystic ovary syndrome). Collection of unstimulated salivary samples was carried out under standardrizedconditions, salivary free testosterone levels were estimated. Plaque index of Silness and Lӧe (1964) was used to assess dental plaque. While gingival index of Lӧe and Silness (1963) was used to assess gingival inflammation. Data analysis was conducted through the application of the (SPSS version 18). The analysis of data included: Mean, Standard deviation, t-test, Pearson Correlation (r), Receiver Operative Characteristics Curve (ROC curve). Results:Results showed that the mean value of plaque index was found to be higher in the control group (1.18±0.03) than that in the study group (1.00±0.08) with statistically highly significant difference (p<0.01). While the mean value of gingival indexwas higher among the study group (1.52±0.06)than that in the control group (1.31±0.05)with statistically highly significant difference (p<0.01). Salivary levels of free testosterone among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (44.12±1.37 pg/ml) were found to be higher than that of control (18.50±0.87) with statistically highly significant difference (p<0.01). The results in this study showed that the correlations between salivary free testosterone with the oral variables (plaque index, gingival index) were statistically not significant (P>0.05). In order to assess the specificity and sensitivity of the use of salivary free testosterone as a diagnostic tool, statistical analysis of Receiver Operative Characteristics Curve (ROC) was used and predictive Value Measurmentswere done in this study. The results showed that the area under the curve for salivary free testosterone test was (1.000) with highly significant p-value (p<0.01). The best optimal cut off point for salivary free testosterone was (30.86) with (100%) sensitivity and specificity, indicating a very good predictive capacity for using salivary free testosterone as a marker for the diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome. Conclusions : It was concluded that gingival inflammation was high among women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Furthermore, salivary levels of free testosterone were found to be high among women with polycystic ovary syndrome.