OBJECTIVE:To study serum visfatin levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS)grouped by Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM)patterns.To study the correlations of serum visfatin levels with homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance(HOMA-IR),fasting plasma glucose(FPG),fasting insulin(FINS),body mass index(BMI),testosterone(T),total cholesterol(TC),and triglycerides(TG).METHODS:Two hundred and twelve PCOS patients were placed into the following TCM pattern subgroups:Kidney-Yang deficiency(KYD)group,Spleen-Yang deficiency(SYD)group,stagnant Liver-Qi transforming into heat(SLQTH)group,and Kidney-Yin deficiency(KYIND)group.The correlations between serum visfatin levels and HOMA-IR,FPG,FINS,BMI,T,TC,andTG were analyzed.RESULTS:Of all patients with PCOS,there were 82in the KYD group(38.6%),67 in the SYD group(31.6%),37 in the SLQTH group(17.5%),and 26 in the KYIND group(12.3%).Visfatin levels in all PCOS subgroups were higher than those in the control group(P0.05).The SYD group had higher levels of FINS and HOMA-IR compared with the KYD,SLQTH,and KYIND groups(P