Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may have an increased risk of developing liver disease, the results of a new study indicate.

PCOS affects around one in every 10 women and can cause irregular periods, fertility problems, excess hair growth and acne. Many of those affected have higher levels of male hormones, are less sensitive to insulin and are overweight or obese.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a major cause of liver disease worldwide, but is different to liver disease that is caused by excessive alcohol intake. Its main characteristic is too much fat stored in liver cells. It is unclear why some people accumulate fat in the liver while others do not, however NAFLD has been linked to obesity.

Because of the obesity link to both PCOS and NAFLD, there is a lot of interest in investigating links between the two conditions, so UK researchers decided to look into this further.

In the largest study of its kind, they compared the health records of 63,000 women with PCOS to 120,000 women of similar age, weight and background.

They found that overall, women with PCOS are two to three times more likely to develop NAFLD compared to women without PCOS.

However, they also found that those with both PCOS and a high testosterone level were found to be at an increased risk of NAFLD irrespective of their weight. In other words, even those of a healthy weight were at risk if they had high levels of testosterone.

"We observed a two-fold increased risk of fatty liver disease in women with PCOS and male hormone excess. Looking at the levels of the major male hormone testosterone, we found that having a high testosterone level increased the risk of fatty liver disease significantly, even in women who were of a normal healthy weight," explained Dr Krish Nirantharakumar of the University of Birmingham.

The researchers said that their study has highlighted ‘significant and previously unknown health risks in women with PCOS and increased male hormone levels'.

"Our findings suggest that regular screening for fatty liver disease should be considered in these women, to make sure the disease is caught early.

"Our research shows that PCOS does not only affect fertility, but also comes with significantly increased rates of metabolic complications. This means that women with PCOS need integrated healthcare throughout their life and not only when planning pregnancy," they added.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal, Neuroimage.