TOPLINE:

Exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a more than 85% reduction in the cardiometabolic risk among women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome, who had a history of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) and/or gestational diabetes (GD).

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a secondary observational analysis of two prospective cohort studies to assess the association between breastfeeding and persistent hypertension and/or glucose metabolism impairment among patients with PMOS who experienced PIH and/or GD.
• They included 101 women with PMOS (maternal age, 28.7 years) and 140 control participants without PMOS (maternal age, 28.4 years); in the whole cohort, 109 women had GD, 100 had PIH, and 32 had both complications.
• Participants were closely monitored throughout pregnancy and at 18 months postpartum with standardised clinical, biochemical, and ultrasonographic assessments; individualised diet and exercise counselling; and the evaluation of cardiometabolic outcomes.
• Infant feeding practices were classified as exclusive breastfeeding, partial breastfeeding, and formula feeding on the basis of definitions recommended by the World Health Organization and United Nations Children's Fund.
• A composite cardiometabolic risk was defined as the presence of at least one of the following conditions: persistent hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, or type 2 diabetes.

TAKEAWAY:

• Women with vs without PMOS had a higher prevalence of the composite cardiometabolic risk (55.4% vs 11.4%; P < .001), with significantly higher rates of persistent hypertension (22.8% vs 3.6%; P < .001), type 2 diabetes (5.9% vs 0.7%; P = .046), and any glycaemic alterations (44.6% vs 9.3%; P < .001).
• Women with PMOS had a significantly shorter breastfeeding duration (9.6 vs 12.6 months) and were less likely to practice exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months (39.6% vs 62.9%; P < .001 for both) than those without PMOS.
• Among women with PMOS, those who reported exclusive breastfeeding had a lower prevalence of the composite cardiometabolic risk than those who reported partial breastfeeding or formula feeding (odds ratio [OR], 0.11; P = .0015); exclusive breastfeeding maintained a significant independent protective role against cardiometabolic impairment (adjusted OR [aOR], 0.14; P < .001), indicating an 86% risk reduction.
• A stratified analysis by the cohort origin revealed that exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a significant reduction in the cardiometabolic risk in both the GD cohort (aOR, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.05-0.51) and the PIH/preeclampsia cohort (aOR, 0.13; 95% CI, 0.04-0.42).

IN PRACTICE:

"Supporting and optimizing lactation in women with PCOS [PMOS] may therefore be clinically relevant, particularly among those at very high risk," the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

This study was led by Stefano Palomba, MD, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. It was published online on June 22, 2026, in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation.

LIMITATIONS:

Data on breastfeeding were reanalysed retrospectively. Participants were enrolled from high-volume tertiary care hospitals, potentially introducing selection bias. Residual confounding cannot be ruled out.

DISCLOSURES:

The study received open access funding from the Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza. The authors declared having no conflicts of interest.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.