Evaluation of Lipid Profile Alterations and Their Clinical Significance Among Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Kogi State, Nigeria.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a prevalent endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age and is frequently accompanied by metabolic disturbances that considerably elevate long-term cardiovascular risk. Among these abnormalities, dyslipidemia is one of the most common and clinically significant; however, evidence from sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Nigeria, remains limited. This study therefore evaluated lipid profile alterations and their clinical significance, with a focus on their contribution to metabolic and cardiovascular disease risk among women with PCOS in Kogi State, Nigeria. A cross-sectional analytical design was employed, involving 110 women diagnosed with PCOS and 40 age-matched controls without PCOS to make a total of 150 samples. Fasting blood samples were obtained for the assessment of lipid parameters, while anthropometric measurements were recorded to calculate cardiometabolic indices, including the Visceral Adiposity Index (VAI) and Lipid Accumulation Product (LAP). Statistical analyses comprised group comparisons and correlation analyses to explore associations between lipid parameters and adiposity-related indices was employed. Women with PCOS exhibited a significantly more atherogenic lipid profile than controls, characterized by elevated total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG), alongside significantly reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Notably, the mean HDL-C level was markedly lower in the PCOS group (1.14 ± 0.39 mmol/L) compared with controls (1.47 ± 0.21 mmol/L; p < 0.001), consistent with the characteristic dyslipidemia which is associated with insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism in PCOS. Correlation analyses revealed that TG levels were moderately and positively associated with both body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.420, p < 0.001) and waist circumference (WC) (r = 0.455, p < 0.001), whereas HDL-C display significant inverse correlations with BMI (r = ?0.315, p = 0.001) and WC (r = ?0.340, p < 0.001). In contrast, LDL-C demonstrated no statistically significant association with BMI or WC. As expected from lipid physiology, total cholesterol showed a strong positive correlation with LDL-C (r = 0.835, p < 0.01), while LDL-C was moderately inversely correlated with HDL-C (r = ?0.548, p < 0.01). BMI also correlated positively with TC (r = 0.413, p < 0.01) and LDL-C (r = 0.546, p < 0.01), and negatively with HDL-C (r = ?0.402, p < 0.01), strengthening the role of adiposity in lipid dysregulation. LAP, an index derived from waist circumference and triglycerides, demonstrated a very strong positive correlation with TG (r = 0.720, p < 0.01), underscoring its sensitivity as a marker of visceral fat–related dyslipidemia. Generally, dyslipidemia particularly elevated TC, LDL-C, and TG was highly prevalent among women with PCOS in Kogi State, Nigeria and was closely associated with indices of visceral adiposity and elevated markers of myocardial injury or stress (cTnI, CK-MB, and myoglobin). These findings indicate a substantial burden of subclinical cardiometabolic risk among women with PCOS in this population. Incorporating simple, non-invasive adiposity indices such as VAI and LAP alongside with conventional lipid profiling may improve early risk categorization. Routine cardiometabolic screening and targeted preventive interventions are therefore recommended to extenuate the progression to expressed cardiovascular disease in women with PCOS.