Polycystic ovaries and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are among the most common endocrine disorders with heterogeneous genetic disease in women of reproductive age (15–49 years)
Data from the Global Burden of this disorder in 2019 showed that the incidence of polycystic and PCOS increased by 30.4% between 1990 and 2019, reaching 66 million cases worldwide in 2019. According to the Rotterdam criteria, they can be diagnosed with two of the following three criteria: 1) chronic anovulation or amenorrhea. 2) clinical or biochemical hyperandrogenism; and 3) ultrasound morphology of polycystic ovaries.
At present, oral contraceptives, antiandrogens, insulin sensitizers, and ovulation-stimulating drugs are mainly used to treat various symptoms of Polycystic Ovaries and PCOS. However, these
treatments only temporarily control symptoms, with side effects and no preventive effect. For example, oral contraceptives worsen insulin resistance, while increasing the risk of inflammation and coagulation disorders in women with PCOS. Therefore, it is urgent to develop drugs with novel mechanisms and few side effects to solve clinical problems. Phytochemicals extracted from medicinal herbs and plants are a vital source for the creation of new drugs. In recent years, it has been found that phytochemicals isolated from medicinal plants can improve the symptoms of polycystic ovaries and polycystic ovary syndrome, such as oxidative stress, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, hyperandrogenism, abnormalities in ovarian morphology, function, obesity, anovulation or amenorrhea, achieving pregnancy and protecting it from miscarriage. Further studies have shown that these phytochemicals prevent, alleviate and treat mainly the symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome through multiple mechanisms.
REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol., 2023 Sec. Obstetric and Pediatric Pharmacology Advances in lead therapeutic phytochemicals polycystic ovary syndrome: A reviewEr-Dan Luo.et.el.