TDNet Discover

Objective: This systematic literature review aims to examine the association between polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and the gut microbiome, specifically the use of probiotics and synbiotics and their impact on hyperandrogenism, obesity, insulin resistance, and infertility. Background: PCOS is a prevalent endocrine disorder among reproductive-aged females characterized by hyperandrogenism, insulin resistance, obesity, and infertility. The etiology is multifactorial and still not well understood, leading to incomplete treatment regimens. The most current treatment guidelines recommend lifestyle modifications, oral contraceptive pills, metformin, and letrozole to manage the disease. Although the gut microbiome has been known to be one of the contributing factors to PCOS, current guidelines fail to mention the use of probiotics or synbiotics to target that mechanism. Methods: This systematic review searched PubMed and MedLine databases for articles written between 2015 and 2025 that studied the effect of the gut microbiome and probiotics or synbiotics on PCOS comorbidities. Results: The results showed implementing probiotics or synbiotics in women with PCOS conferred a statistically significant improvement in all four domains of hyperandrogenism, obesity, insulin resistance, and infertility. In addition, there are significant differences between the composition and abundance of microbiota in women with PCOS and women without PCOS. Conclusions: This review demonstrated that probiotics or synbiotics are a reasonable addition to the standard PCOS treatment regimen. Targeting the microbiome as one of the root etiologies of PCOS makes it possible to improve the predominant comorbidities.