ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Ginecologica 2013 August;65(4):425-33

Copyright © 2013 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Evaluation of a new association between insulin-sensitizers and α-lipoic acid in obese women affected by PCOS

Cappelli V., Di Sabatino A., Musacchio M. C., De Leo V. ✉

Sezione di Ostetricia e Ginecologia, Dipartimento di Medicina Molecolare e dello Sviluppo, Università degli Studi di Siena Siena, Italia

Aim: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a multifactorial pathology affecting 7-10% of the female population. Usually occurs with oligo/amenorrhea, anovulation, hirsutism, polycystic ovaries. Hyperinsulinemia associated with insulin resistance has been causally linked to all features of the syndrome. It has been demonstrated that by reducing hyperinsulinemia, in particular with the administration of metformin, insulin-lowering agents might improve endocrine and reproductive abnormalities in PCOS patients.
Methods: Original association between myo-inositol and alpha-lipoic acid, has recently been successfully administered in women with PCOS. The α-lipoic acid is a powerful natural antioxidant and an enzyme cofactor of the mitochondrial respiratory chain, is found to be a substance capable of improving glycemic control in patients with type II diabetes. In our study we compared two groups: group A, treated with metformin (3 g) and group B treated with metformin (1.7 g), myo-inositol and alpha-lipoic acid.
Results: The results of this study demonstrated a good efficacy of both treatments, although in the group treated with the combination of metformin/myo-inositol/alpha-lipoic acid improvement in hyperandrogenism, BMI and HOMA index were significantly better.
Conclusion: Thus, the association metformin/myo-inositol/alpha-lipoic acid represents an excellent therapy choice to suggest to those obese women affected by PCOS who do not want to take hormones and neither to have any severe side effect.