A Systemic Review of Pre-clinical Studies of Herbal Plants having Anti-Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Activity: A PAN-India Study

Abstract

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a prevalent endocrine and metabolic condition seen in premenopausal women. A number of pharmacological agents like metformin, oral contraceptives, and anti-androgen agents have been used to treat PCOS and its associated implications, but it has been associated with numerous negative effects like fatal and nonfatal lactic acidosis, weight gain, cardiovascular, and hepatic toxicity. Methodology: This study considered the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta- Analysis (PRISMA) guideline where a vast number of article sources from different scientific databases like Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/), PubMed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), and Web of Science (https://mjl.clarivate.com/search-results) were screened out. Results: From a total of 154 studies, 24 studies were screened out following the inclusion and exclusion criteria, which reported 24 different plants that were used against PCOS preclinically. Details of various plants used, including their respective families, plant parts utilized, extraction methods employed, formulations developed, animal models of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) utilized, and the geographical locations within India where the research has been conducted are all documented. Conclusion: This systematic review is the first in India to report the pre-clinical studies of medicinal plants against PCOS, and it provides a thorough summary of the application of medicinal plants for the management of PCOS. Nonetheless, molecular level investigations on the plants utilized, their bioactive phytoconstituent responsible for the anti-PCOS activity, the probable mechanism of action and the pathway through which they conserve their effect, the effective dose, and the potential adverse effects are the need of time.