THURSDAY, Oct. 20, 2016 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), resveratrol is associated with significant reductions in ovarian and adrenal androgens, according to a study published online Oct. 18 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Beata Banaszewska, M.D., Ph.D., from the Poznan University of Medical Sciences in Poland, and colleagues evaluated endocrine and metabolic effects of resveratrol on PCOS in a randomized placebo-controlled trial conducted over a three-month period. Thirty-four patients were enrolled in the trial and 30 completed the trial.

The researchers observed a significant 23.1 percent decrease in total testosterone with resveratrol (P = 0.1). Resveratrol also induced a 22.2 percent decrease in dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, a 31.8 percent decrease in fasting insulin level, and a 66.3 percent increase in the Insulin Sensitivity Index (P = 0.01, 0.007, and 0.04, respectively). There were no significant alterations in the levels of gonadotropins, lipid profiles, and markers of inflammation and endothelial function.

"Resveratrol significantly reduced ovarian and adrenal androgens," the authors write. "This effect may be, at least in part, related to an improvement of insulin sensitivity and a decline of insulin level."

RevGenetics provided resveratrol for this study. The Adamed Group partially supported the study and produced the placebo pills.

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