Study record
Reduced serum and skeletal muscle MOTS c levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome are associated with mitochondrial dysfunction
Kutuk IS, Akin S, Demirel H et al. · Sci Rep · 2026
Human obs.Endogenous MOTS-c measuredEvidence tier B
What this study reported
Measured lower circulating MOTS-c concentrations and lower skeletal muscle MOTS-c expression in women with polycystic ovary syndrome than in matched controls. Reported that serum MOTS-c was inversely associated with total testosterone and total cholesterol in this cohort.
Limitations
Cross-sectional case-control design cannot establish direction; muscle expression was assessed only in a subgroup; single-centre sample of women with weak correlation coefficients.
Study record
| Study model | Human observational |
|---|---|
| Substance studied | Endogenous MOTS-c measuredNaturally occurring MOTS-c was measured; nothing was given. |
| Species | human |
| System studied | Women with polycystic ovary syndrome and age- and BMI-matched controls; serum ELISA and vastus lateralis biopsies |
| Population | women with polycystic ovary syndrome and age- and BMI-matched healthy controls |
| Design | Case-control study |
| Sample size as reported | 40 women with PCOS and 40 controls |
| Control group | age- and BMI-matched healthy women |
| Route (data field only) | Not reported |
| Endpoints measured | serum MOTS-c concentration; skeletal muscle MOTS-c expression; total testosterone; total cholesterol; insulin resistance measures |
| Pathways measured | Insulin & glucose handling · Other |
| Research areas | Metabolic · Reproductive · Mitochondrial biology · Skeletal muscle |
| Evidence tier | B — Other human study |
| Publication types | Journal Article |
Appraisal
Each dimension is recorded separately and never combined into a single score. A study can be well controlled and still tell you little about people.
- Relevance to MOTS-c
- Direct
- Model applicability
- Human
- Sample size
- Small
- Controls
- Appropriate
- Outcome validity
- Validated biomarker
- Support for its own conclusion
- Moderate
Provenance
- Bibliographic fields retrieved from PubMed E-utilities efetch (title, journal, date, authors, DOI) on 2026-11-11.
- Annotated from the published abstract.
- Editorial review: approved (2026-11-11).
- Classification follows the site methodology; the record describes the study, not what MOTS-c does in people.