Against diabetes drug prevents infertility in women

Early, prolonged treatment with metformin medication against diabetes can prevent or delay the development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a common cause of infertility, adolescence, according to new research.

PCOS often presents in adolescence with irregular menstrual cycles, acne, hair too, said lead author Lourdes Ibanez, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics at the University of Barcelona, ​​Spain.

But we believe that the critical years for the development of PCOS may be during childhood and puberty, when excessive amounts of fat are stored. This excessive weight gain overexpose the ovaries to insulin, causing them to stop ovulation and start to release male hormones, resulting in PCOS, she added.

The researchers studied 38 girls with low birth weight and early puberty and compared the efficacy of early treatment compared to metformin late to prevent PCOS in adolescents.

A group of 19 girls from 8 years were treated with daily doses of metformin for four years. A second group of 19 girls have waited five years before they began receiving daily doses of metformin for 13 years and then continued treatment for one year only.

They found that early metformin prevented or delayed the development of hirsutism, androgen excess and PCOS more effectively than metformin treatment later.

"Metformin, when given through the potentially critical window of puberty, may have the ability to reprogram the metabolism to a lower abdominal fat liver," said Ibanez.

The study was accepted for publication in the Journal of the Endocrine Society of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.