Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Reproductive endocrinology

Infertility treatment in PCOS—is metformin in from the cold?

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 8, pages 328–330 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

A recent consensus workshop did not include metformin in the recommended therapeutic approach for the treatment of infertility in women with PCOS. However, encouraging findings by Morin-Papunen et al. suggest that metformin could reclaim its place, especially for the infertility treatment of women with PCOS who are obese.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Morin-Papunen, L. et al. Metformin improves pregnancy and live-birth rates in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. doi:10.1210/jc.2011-3061.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Nader, S. Infertility and pregnancy in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Minerva Endocrinol. 35, 211–225 (2010).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Fauser B. C. et al. Consensus on women's health aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): the Amsterdam ESHRE/ASRM-Sponsored 3rd PCOS Consensus Workshop Group. Fertil. Steril. 97, 28–38.e25 (2012).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Desilets, A. R., Dhakal-Karki, S. & Dunican, K. C. Role of metformin for weight management in patients without type 2 diabetes. Ann. Pharmacother. 42, 817–826 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Glueck, C. J. et al. Obesity and extreme obesity, manifest by ages 20–24 years, continuing through 32–41 years in women, should alert physicians to the diagnostic likelihood of polycystic ovary syndrome as a reversible underlying endocrinopathy. Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. Biol. 122, 206–212 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Boots, C. & Stephenson, M. D. Does obesity increase the risk of miscarriage in spontaneous conception: a systematic review. Semin. Reprod. Med. 29, 507–513 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Pasquali, R. et al. Effect of long-term treatment with metformin added to hypocaloric diet on body composition, fat distribution, and androgen and insulin levels in abdominally obese women with and without the polycystic ovary syndrome. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 85, 2767–2774 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Gennarelli, G. et al. Prediction models for insulin resistance in the polycystic ovary syndrome. Hum. Reprod. 15, 2098–2102 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Diamanti-Kandarakis, E. & Panidis, D. Unravelling the phenotypic map of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a prospective study of 634 women with PCOS. Clin. Endocrinol. (Oxf.) 67, 735–742 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Palomba, S. et al. Systemic and local effects of metformin administration in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): relationship to the ovulatory response. Hum. Reprod. 25, 1005–1013 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Third Department of Medicine, Endocrine Unit, Medical School, University of Athens, Sotiria General Hospital, Mesogeion 152, 11527, Athens, Greece

    Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis

Authors
  1. Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The author declares no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Diamanti-Kandarakis, E. Infertility treatment in PCOS—is metformin in from the cold?. Nat Rev Endocrinol 8, 328–330 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.69

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrendo.2012.69

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing