Objective: In this study, we investigated about the potential of serum ferritin as a complementary diagnostic biomarker of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) by performing a meta-analysis of existing literature. Materials and methods: Eleven studies written in English were retrieved up to 30 June 2018. Data were extracted from the selected studies by two of the authors and was subjected to statistical analysis. Levels of serum ferritin were compared between women with PCOS and controls using the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Subgroup analysis was also performed and stratified by ethnicity (Asians versus Caucasians). Results: Overall post-outlier outcomes indicated that elevated serum ferritin is strongly associated with PCOS (SMD: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.40-0.64; PA = 10-5). Subgroup analysis by ethnicity showed no significant difference between Asian and Caucasian population. Post-outlier receiving operations characteristics curve were plotted and showed that values for serum ferritin showed good potential in discriminating patients with and without PCOS (AUC = 0.827, p = 0.006). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that high serum ferritin level is significantly associated with PCOS and its potential as a biomarker is evident in its high diagnostic accuracy. However, additional studies are needed to confirm our claims.

中文翻译：

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血清铁蛋白作为多囊卵巢综合征的候选诊断性生物标志物：一项荟萃分析。

目的：在这项研究中，我们通过对现有文献进行荟萃分析，研究了血清铁蛋白作为多囊卵巢综合征（PCOS）的补充诊断生物标志物的潜力。材料和方法：截至2018年6月30日，检索了11篇用英语撰写的研究。两名作者从所选研究中提取了数据，并进行了统计分析。使用标准均数差（SMD）和95％置信区间（CI）比较患有PCOS的女性和对照组之间的血清铁蛋白水平。还进行了亚组分析，并按种族进行了分层（亚洲人与白种人）。结果：总体异常值后结果表明血清铁蛋白升高与PCOS密切相关（SMD：0.52； 95％CI：0.40-0.64； PA = 10-5）。按种族进行的亚组分析显示，亚洲和白种人之间没有显着差异。绘制了离群值后的接收操作特征曲线，表明血清铁蛋白值在区分有无PCOS的患者中显示出良好的潜力（AUC = 0.827，p = 0.006）。结论：我们的研究结果表明，高血清铁蛋白水平与PCOS显着相关，其作为生物标志物的潜力在其高诊断准确性中也很明显。但是，还需要进行其他研究才能确认我们的主张。我们的发现表明，高血清铁蛋白水平与PCOS显着相关，并且其作为生物标志物的潜力在其高诊断准确性中也很明显。但是，还需要进行其他研究才能确认我们的主张。我们的发现表明，高血清铁蛋白水平与PCOS显着相关，并且其作为生物标志物的潜力在其高诊断准确性中也很明显。但是，还需要进行其他研究才能确认我们的主张。