Metformin in therapy naive patients with polycystic ovary syndrome
Abstract
Sir, We have read with great interest the paper by Moll et al. (2007) recently published on Human Reproduction Update. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the efficacy of metformin administration in the total spectrum of treatment possibilities for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients in terms of fertility improvement, and having as primary end-point the live-birth rate. The authors (Moll et al., 2007) concluded that clomiphene citrate (CC) is still the first choice therapy for infertile women with PCOS. To draw this conclusion, the authors evaluated eight randomized controlled trials (El-Biely and Habba, 2001; Singh et al., 2001; Sahin et al., 2004; Palomba et al., 2005; Raja et al., 2005; Khorram et al., 2006; Moll et al., 2006; Legro et al., 2007). Although the primary end-point was the live-birth rate, in only four studies (Sahin et al., 2004; Palomba et al., 2005; Moll et al., 2006; Legro et al., 2007) the efficacy of the treatment on live births was assessed. In addition, if the conclusion regards therapy naive PCOS patients, the studies by Sahin et al. (2004) and Khorram et al. (2006) should be excluded since in both studies, as detailed in the materials and methods sections, a metformin pre-treatment was administered continuously for three months (Sahin et al., 2004) or cyclically for 14 days (Khorram et al., 2006) before CC treatment. Conversely, these findings could be useful to provide clinical suggestions to drive the best strategy for…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Increased expression of circulating miRNA-93 in women with polycystic ovary syndrome may represent a novel, non-invasive biomarker for diagnosis
- Identification of key genes associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and ovarian cancer using an integrated bioinformatics analysis
- Identification of key pathways and genes in polycystic ovary syndrome via integrated bioinformatics analysis and prediction of small therapeutic molecules
- Regulation of Androgen Receptor Expression Alters AMPK Phosphorylation in the Endometrium: In Vivo and In Vitro Studies in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
- Effect of oral administration of low-dose follicle stimulating hormone on hyperandrogenized mice as a model of polycystic ovary syndrome
- Systems pharmacology to investigate the interaction of berberine and other drugs in treating polycystic ovary syndrome
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.