Trial reportThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2020
Sustained Maternal Hyperandrogenism During PCOS Pregnancy Reduced by Metformin in Non-obese Women Carrying a Male Fetus.
Trial report in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Sitagliptin on Metabolic Indices and Hormone Levels in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: a Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2023Pooled it
- Prenatal exposure to a single dose of testosterone adversely affects the oocyte and embryo quality in rats during adulthood: An experimental study.International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2025Article
- Metformin use in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): Opportunities, benefits, and clinical challenges.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Review
- Advancement in early diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome: biomarker-driven innovative diagnostic sensor.Mikrochimica acta · 2025Review
- Gestational testosterone excess early to mid-pregnancy disrupts maternal lipid homeostasis and activates biosynthesis of phosphoinositides and phosphatidylethanolamines in sheep.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Anthropometrics of neonates born to mothers with PCOS with metformin or placebo exposure in utero.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Genetic effect of metformin use on risk of cancers: evidence from Mendelian randomization analysis.Diabetology & metabolic syndrome · 2023Article
- Examination of newborn DNA methylation among women with polycystic ovary syndrome/hirsutism.Epigenetics · 2023Article
- Fetal sex and the development of gestational diabetes mellitus in polycystic ovarian syndrome gravidae.American journal of obstetrics & gynecology MFM · 2023Article
- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Challenges and Possible Solutions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Clinical management of pregnancy in women with polycystic ovary syndrome: An expert opinion.Clinical endocrinology · 2022Review
- Progesterone Attenuates SIRT1-Deficiency-Mediated Pre-Eclampsia.Biomolecules · 2022Article
- Endocrine and metabolic interactions in healthy pregnancies and hyperinsulinemic pregnancies affected by polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes and obesity.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2022Review
- Integrated or Independent Actions of Metformin in Target Tissues Underlying Its Current Use and New Possible Applications in the Endocrine and Metabolic Disorder Area.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Unravelling Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Its Comorbidities.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
contextLarge, longitudinal studies on androgen levels in pregnant women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are lacking. While metformin has a mild androgen-lowering effect in non-pregnant women with PCOS, its effects on maternal androgen levels in pregnancy are less well understood.
objectiveTo describe androgen patterns in pregnant women with PCOS and in healthy control women, and to explore the potential effects of metformin on maternal androgen levels in PCOS. DESIGN AND
settingA post hoc analysis from a randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter study carried out at 11 secondary care centers and a longitudinal single-center study on healthy pregnant women in Norway.
participantsA total of 262 women with PCOS and 119 controls.
interventionThe participants with PCOS were randomly assigned to metformin (2 g daily) or placebo, from first trimester to delivery.
main outcome measuresAndrostenedione (A4), testosterone (T), sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG), and free testosterone index (FTI) at 4 time points in pregnancy.
resultsWomen with PCOS versus healthy controls had higher A4, T, and FTI, and lower SHBG at all measured time points in pregnancy. In the overall cohort of women with PCOS, metformin had no effect on A4, T, SHBG, and FTI. In subgroup analyses, metformin reduced A4 (P = 0.019) in nonobese women. Metformin also reduced A4 (P = 0.036), T (P = 0.023), and SHBG (P = 0.010) levels through pregnancy in mothers with a male fetus.
conclusionMetformin had no effect on maternal androgens in PCOS pregnancies. In subgroup analyses, a modest androgen-lowering effect was observed in nonobese women with PCOS. In PCOS women carrying a male fetus, metformin exhibited an androgen-lowering effect.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.