Oral Amino Acid Nutrition to Improve Glucose Excursions in PCOS

Girls with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and hepatic steatosis (HS) will complete a 12 week double-blinded placebo controlled cross-over study with 4 weeks each of an essential amino acid (EAA) supplement and placebo, and will complete metabolic studies after each intervention. There will be a 4 week wash out period in-between. The metabolic tests after each intervention (EAA/placebo) will include an oral sugar tolerance test (OSTT) and an oral U-C13 glycerol tracer that is paired with Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) isotopomer analysis of serum samples to describe flux through the hepatic pentose phosphate pathway, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and fatty acid synthesis pathways in girls with PCOS and HS. Hepatic steatosis will be measured with magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI) and hepatic phosphate concentrations with magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy.