Meta-analysis of the endocrine and metabolic effects of probiotics on polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: Systematic evaluation of the application of probiotics in the treatment of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Methods: Computer searches of PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Medline, Embase, Ovid, CNKI, Wan Fang Data, and VIP databases were conducted to retrieve RCT studies on probiotics for the treatment of patients with PCOS from the time of database creation to March 2021. Meta-analysis was performed by two researchers after screening, extracting, and evaluating the literature using revman 5.3 software. Results: A total of 13 studies were included, and the results of Meta-analysis showed that compared with the placebo group, probiotic supplementation increased sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and insulin sensitivity testing index (QUICKI) and decreased fasting insulin (INS), total testosterone (TT), insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), fasting blood glucose (FPG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), triglyceride (TG), and total cholesterol (TC) levels in PCOS patients (P0.05). Conclusions: Probiotics may improve serum levels of endocrine and metabolism-related indicators in patients with PCOS, but further investigation and validation in large samples and high-quality RCT studies are needed.