The effects of old, new and emerging medicines on metabolic aberrations in PCOS

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age that is associated with significant adverse short- and long-term health consequences. Multiple metabolic aberrations, such as insulin resistance (IR) and hyperinsulinaemia, high incidence of impaired glucose tolerance, visceral obesity, inflammation and endothelial dysfunction, hypertension and dyslipidemia are associated with the syndrome. Assessing the metabolic aberrations and their long term health impact in women with PCOS is challenging and becomes more important as therapeutic interventions currently available for the management of PCOS are not fully able to deal with all these consequences. Current therapeutic management of PCOS has incorporated new treatments resulting from the better understanding of the pathophysiology of the syndrome. The aim of this review is to summarize the effect of old, new and emerging therapies used in the management of PCOS, on the metabolic aberrations of PCOS.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.

The potential effects of metformin on the metabolic aberrations of PCOS. ↑indicates increased, ↓indicates decreased. TG: triglycerides, TC :cholesterol, LDL: LDL cholesterol, HDL: HDL cholesterol .

Figure 2

The effects of statins on the metabolic aberrations of PCOs. ↓ Indicates decreased

Figure 3.

The effect of low- frequency electrical acupuncture on the skeletal muscle EA: electro-acupuncture EA, GLUT-4:glucose tranporter-4, SIRT1: Sirtuin-1, PGC-1a: peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α, ↑ indicates increased.