Follicular fluid lipidomics analysis reveals altered lipid signatures in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

This research investigates the metabolic profiles of follicular fluid (FF) samples from patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing <i>in vitro</i> fertilisation and aims to identify diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers for PCOS through lipidomic analysis. We performed non-targeted lipid analysis of FF samples from women with PCOS (<i>n</i> = 6) and normal controls (<i>n</i> = 6) using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. Differential lipids between the two groups were screened using multidimensional statistical analysis, followed by fold change analysis and <i>t</i>-tests to identify potential PCOS biomarkers. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed significant differences in FF lipid levels between the PCOS and control groups. Five different lipids were selected as standards, with <i>p</i> &lt; .05. Phosphatidylcholine (PC), the main differentially expressed lipid, was significantly increased in the FF of the POCS group and was closely related to other lipids. Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, we investigated lipid biomarkers based on FF lipidomics to provide useful information for the discovery of diagnostic markers for PCOS. Our study identified five distinct lipids as potential markers of PCOS, with PC being the primary aberrant lipid found in the FF of patients with PCOS. Follicular fluid (FF) is a complex microenvironment involved in oocyte growth, follicular maturation and germ cell–somatic cell communication. All metabolites during oocyte growth are collected from the FF. This study used lipidomic analysis to identify differences in FF lipids between normal women and those diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The pathogenesis of PCOS is associated with abnormal metabolism of glyceroglycolipids and sphingomyelin. Here, we found that phosphatidylcholine is the main abnormal lipid in FF in patients with PCOS. Our study informs the future research into the development of diagnostic markers for PCOS to be used in clinical practice.