Comparison of efficacy of metformin and D-chiro-inositol on clinical biomarkers in patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome: an open label study

Objective

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a pathophysiological disorder affecting reproductive and metabolic indices in females. The present study was designed to compare the efficacy of metformin and D-chiro-inositol in PCOS patients.

Methods

In a tertiary care hospital in North India, prospective observational research was undertaken on 100 patients with PCOS, which was diagnosed based on European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology Guidelines and ultrasound of lower abdomen. The study involves various clinical characteristics into consideration for the determination of statistical significance (P < 0.05) in PCOS patients. Student's t-test along with the association between PCOS and patients taking metformin and D-chiro-inositol, as well as their impact on various biochemical parameters, were investigated finally using Pearson Correlation Analysis.

Results

This study comprises 50 patients taking metformin and 50 patients taking D-chiro-inositol in women suffering from PCOS. Body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were statistically significant (P < 0.05) within the groups of both metformin and D-chiro-inositol. Biochemical parameters such as luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05) in both groups. LH, FSH and AMH (14.40 ± 0.52; 14.28 ± 0.53; 1.99 ± 0.10) were comparatively lower in patients taking D-chiro-inositol as compared to metformin group (14.17 ± 0.42; 19.88 ± 1.01; 2.61 ± 0.04). HbA1c (3.71 ± 0.08) with P < 0.05 was found to be decreased more in metformin group as compared to patients taking D-chiro-inositol (4.90 ± 0.09). A positive correlation was found between HbA1c and LH in metformin, & HbA1c and FSH in D-chiro-inositol groups, respectively.

Conclusion

The results indicate that D-chiro-inositol shows better results in reducing clinical variables involved in causing PCOS as compared to metformin whereas metformin has better glycemic control in PCOS patients.