Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Etiology, Current Management, and Future Therapeutics

J Clin Med. 2023 Feb 11;12(4):1454. doi: 10.3390/jcm12041454.

Abstract

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex endocrine and metabolic disorder, typically characterized by anovulation, infertility, obesity, insulin resistance, and polycystic ovaries. Lifestyle or diet, environmental pollutants, genetics, gut dysbiosis, neuroendocrine alterations, and obesity are among the risk factors that predispose females to PCOS. These factors might contribute to upsurging metabolic syndrome by causing hyperinsulinemia, oxidative stress, hyperandrogenism, impaired folliculogenesis, and irregular menstrual cycles. Dysbiosis of gut microbiota may play a pathogenic role in the development of PCOS. The restoration of gut microbiota by probiotics, prebiotics, or a fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) might serve as an innovative, efficient, and noninvasive way to prevent and mitigate PCOS. This review deliberates on the variety of risk factors potentially involved in the etiology, prevalence, and modulation of PCOS, in addition to plausible therapeutic interventions, including miRNA therapy and the eubiosis of gut microbiota, that may help treat and manage PCOS.

Keywords: FMT; PCOS; gut dysbiosis; gut microbiome; hyperandrogenism; hyperinsulinemia; metabolic disorders; miRNA therapy; probiotics.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.