Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal ORIGINAL ARTICLE Effect of Metformin on Serum Ferritin Level in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome S Behradmanesh 1 , GhH Ranjbar Omrani2, F Ghazanfarpour3, A Baradaran 4 * 1Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Shahr-e-Kord University of Medical Sciences, Shahr-e-Kord, Iran 2Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology, Endocrine and Metabolic Re- search Center, Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran 3Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran 4Department of Pa- thology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran Abstract Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common diseases among women associat- ed with various inflammatory reactants such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and ferritin. This study aimed to investi- gate the effect of metformin on probable reduction of serum ferritin in patients with PCOS. Methods: This study was conducted on 45 patients with PCOS who had not other systemic diseases and did not take any medications. Weight, waist and hip circumstances (WHR), body mass index (BMI), metabolic indexes, CRP, ferritin and “Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) ˝ were measured before the study. Metformin (500 mg/tid) tablets were prescribed for three months and then same above parameters were re-measured. Results: Of 45 patients, 19 (42.2%) were overweight and 14 (31.1%) were obese. After drug therapy, there was a significant reduction in waist circumstance and serum ferritin. This reduction was significant only in the lean and overweight groups but not in the obese group. There was not significant association between serum ferritin and CRP, HOMA-IR, BMI and WHR. There was not significant correlation between CRP and HOMA-IR and also BMI. Conclusion: The effect of metformin on reduction of serum ferritin was not significant just in obese group and was not associated with metabolic and anthropometric indexes. Keywords: Ferritin; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; Metformin Introduction Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common diseases with prevalence of 6-7% among women in their reproductive age.1-4 Obesity, hyper- androgenism, ovarian dysfunction and insulin re- sistance are features of this disease.5 In addition, other diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), metabolic syndrome (MetS) and cardiovascular dis- eases (CVD) are related to this syndrome.6-9 It has been recently found that acute phase reactants of in- *Correspondence: Azar Baradaran, MD, Associate Professor of Pathology, Al-Zahra Medical Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Tel: +98-913-3278027, e-mail: azarbaradaran@yahoo.com Received: October 15, 2010; Accepted: February 12, 2011 flammation including C-reactive protein (CRP) are higher than normal in T2DM, hyperinsulinemia10 and PCOS.11 Serum level of CRP has a higher value in obese PCOS subjects than those non-obese with PCOS. A treatment with metformin for six months lowers CRP serum level in all subjects as well as obese and non–obese.12 Another acute phase reactants of inflammation is ferritin which is higher than nor- mal in patients with metabolic syndrome, T2DM pa- tients and PCOS.13-15 Serum ferritin levels in over- weight and obese women with PCOS are significantly higher compared to overweight and obese women without this disorder.15-18 Metformin causes improvement of insulin re- sistance in patients with PCOS.19,20 Regarding the prevalence of PCOS among women at reproductive age4 and accompany of acute phase reactants of in- Iran Red Crescent Med J 2011; 13(7):487-492 ©Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal