ravenjen

Hi all,

Found this article from Reuters Health Information via medscape.com's Diabetes & Endocrinology section. I'm glad to see more and more research supporting what we cysters already know. Read on...


Hyperinsulinemia Seen as Central in Pathogenesis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jan 03 - In women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), treatment with the insulin-lowering drug metformin appears to reduce FSH-stimulated aromatase activity, according to a recent report. This finding lends support to the hypothesis that hyperinsulinemia plays a key role in the pathogenesis of PCOS.

Dr. Vincenzo De Leo, from the University of Siena in Italy, and colleagues assessed the effect of metformin therapy on FSH-stimulated aromatase activity in 20 women with PCOS. Their findings are published in the December issue of Fertility and Sterility.

The researchers found that metformin therapy was linked to a significant drop in free testosterone levels, insulin plasma levels, and in the insulin response to glucose tolerance testing. Furthermore, the FSH-stimulated estradiol response was significantly lower after metformin was given than before.

Analysis of estradiol, androstenedione, and testosterone areas-under-the-curve suggested that metformin therapy was associated with a reduction in FSH-stimulated aromatase activity, the investigators note.

"Our results demonstrate that metformin therapy in women with PCOS is associated with a reduction in aromatase activity in response to FSH and that insulin affects not only androgen production but also estrogen production," Dr. De Leo's team states. The current findings support "the hypothesis that insulin plays a role in the endocrine and paracrine control of the ovaries," they add.

Fertil Steril 2002;78:1234-1239.