Effects of Metformin on Endocrine and Metabolic Parameters in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of metformin on metabolic and endocrine parameters in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The study included 40 patients with PCOS. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on whether they will receive metformin (500 mg 3 times a day, n=20) or placebo (n=20) for 3 consecutive months. Serum concentrations of fasting blood glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, INSL-3, visfatin, FSH, and LH were measured at baseline and after 3 months of therapy. The key endocrine and metabolic parameters significantly changed after metformin treatment. The systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly reduced in the metformin group after treatment compared to placebo (p<0.001). A significant reduction in the size of the right ovary was observed after metformin treatment (p=0.05), while no change was found in the size of left ovary (p>0.12). Moreover, a significant reduction was observed in the serum levels of FSH (p>0.01), LH (p>0.001), and visfatin (p>0.001) after metformin treatment. However, HOMA-IR (which is used to assess insulin resistance) failed to reach the statistical significance (p=0.20). We conclude that metformin treatment in females with PCOS showed significant improvement in systolic and diastolic blood pressures. In addition, an improvement in the hormonal profile in the form of reduction in LH, FSH, and visfatin levels was observed. Thus, therapeutic intervention with metformin could be of clinical importance in high-risk group of young females with PCOS.

Effects of placebo‐controlled insulin‐sensitizing drugs on hormonal parameters in polycystic ovary syndrome patients: A network meta‐analysis

“…Totally 489 relevant literatures were searched, among of which we excluded 46 duplicates, 26 non‐English literatures, 48 letters or reviews, and the remaining 369 articles were further assessed with the exclusion of 99 non‐human studies, 112 unrelated to PCOS, 128 unrelated to insulin‐sensitizing drugs, 2 without data, or incomplete data literatures. Finally, 28 RCTs published from 2001 to 2017 met our inclusion criteria were included in this network meta‐analysis (Figure ), which included 1328 PCOS patients. Among of the 28 RCTs, the population of 23 RCTs was from Caucasians and that of five RCTs was from Asians.…”

Diabetes, use of metformin, and the risk of meningioma

“…For metformin, there was an unexpected borderline statistically significant positive association with meningioma risk in analyses matched on duration of diabetes and level of glycemic control, which was rendered statistically significant in the test for trend restricted to women. Possibly, metformin use leads to hormonal changes in women, such as reduction of luteinizing or follicle stimulation hormone as observed in polycystic ovary syndrome [ 23 ], which may influence free estradiol levels and thereby risk of meningioma. In addition, although we adjusted our analyses for BMI, we cannot fully exclude residual confounding by adiposity.…”

Treatment with Metformin and Combination of Metformin Plus Pioglitazone on Serum Levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Recently, we performed a randomized, placebo-controlled study to assess the effectiveness of metformin in metabolic and endocrine alteration in women with PCOS [32]. Our data suggested that treatment with metformin causes a significant reduction in androgen levels as well as serum visfatin in women with PCOS relative to the controls.…”