Polycystic ovary syndrome ( PCOS ) is the most common ductless gland disorder in women of procreative age , affecting an estimated 5 million the great unwashed in the United States alone . It causes women to produce high amounts of endocrine normally associated with men — androgen , testosterone , and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate ( DHEAS ) . Symptoms include infrequent ovulation , free weight gain , fatigue duty , unwanted hair’s-breadth ontogeny , pelvic bother , and even infertility . As many as 60 per centum of women with PCOS are also deal “ pre - diabetic , ” with insulin resistance and a much high risk of produce character II diabetes . But new research late published in the Endocrine Society’sJournal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolismhas made the hopeful discovery that resveratrol , a humble antioxidant establish in grapes , nuts , and Berry , can importantly reduce the hormones that create endocrine imbalances in char with PCOS , and improve insulin sensitiveness .
Lead researcherAntoni Duleba , co - author of the field of study and a professor of procreative medication at the University of California , San Diego ( UCSD ) had antecedently found that statins , drugs that low cholesterin , inhibit the mevalonate pathway — an crucial metabolic mechanics that plays a key function in multiple cellular process , such as reduce the output of androgens . ( Though dub " male " hormones because in males they activate the development of typically male trait , androgenic hormone are also get by ovarian tissues . ) For this study , Duleba and his team in the Department of Reproductive Medicine search other compound that could do the same matter , finally essay the chemical compound resveratrol . “ Resveratrol is biologically a unlike chemical compound [ from lipid-lowering medication ] but also interferes with themevalonate pathwayand has a similar effect on production of androgen by ovarian cubicle , ” he tellsmental_floss .
To essay resveratrol ’s potential , 30 women were indiscriminately assign to take either a resveratrol supplement or a placebo pill every daytime for three months . At the commencement and end of the study , they had their blood drawn to measure their internal secretion level , as well as an oral glucose tolerance test to specify their diabetes risk factors .
Since resveratrol is not a drug , but a “ nutritional additive , ” it was difficult for the researcher to regulate the correct amount for char to take . “ You ca n’t really render loony toons into serum grade of resveratrol , ” Duleba read , because “ resveratrol is highlylipophilic”—it ’s propagate in fat , and there are no honest tools to value the amount in productive jail cell . Therefore , he enunciate , “ We take a medium denseness of one and a half grams per day and , as luck would have it , we got lucky . ”
Their findings revealed statistically significant resultant role . Total testosterone levels fall by 23.1 per centum in the fair sex who took the resveratrol . In contrast , the placebo group ’s testosterone levelsincreasedby 2.9 percentage . For the resveratrol group , DHEAS also declined by 22.2 percent , while the placebo mathematical group see a 10.5 percent increase in DHEAS levels .
Even more hopeful , the participant who read resveratrol also showed “ cut insulin levels and improved insulin sensitiveness , ” Duleba aver , adding , “ gamey insulin stimulate ovarian tissue and increases androgen production . ” The link between diabetes and PCOS still needs to be explored — it ’s not yet known if women with PCOS “ are likely to have pre - diabetes because of androgens , or they are likely to have altitude of androgens because they are pre - diabetic . ” Either direction , resveratrol shows promise as a manner to ameliorate several of the complication of the shape .
“ It has been known for many long time that in PCOS , the majority of women have insulin resistance and elevation of insulin , ” Duleba says . Now , his research has give away that resveratrol can reduce insulin levels , thus lowering the stimulation of the ovaries and directly reducing androgenic hormone production .
This is an exciting new line of research for the supplement resveratrol , which first made wave years ago as a charming hummer forextended life . The pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline bought patents on a “ supposedly more absorbable cast of resveratrol from Harvard prof David Sinclair , ” recalls Duleba , but they never acquire it despite spend “ something like$700 millionon it . ”
While Duleba is enthusiastic about the results , he let in it is not a panacea , and there is much left to determine . They do n’t yet make out if it ’s good for purpose in significant charwoman , for illustration , or if there ’s a dose too high to be considered dependable . He considers it a “ very complex molecule , ” and summate , “ I do n’t think it ’s going to be the trick that will make us experience forever , but I cogitate it will find its place . ”
