Reacción a "Malaria compound to treat polycystic ovary syndrome"

In addition to oral contraceptives, we currently have a highly effective treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): metformin. This is a drug that we have been using for over 30 years, which offers a high level of safety and can only cause minor short-term side effects in the gastrointestinal tract, which can usually be avoided with an adequate dosage regimen. In addition, many alternative treatment options are being discussed, such as inositol, resveratol, monk’s pepper, coenzyme Q10, ginseng, curcumin and others. There are similar studies that have shown effects for these, but they did not show sufficient effect in placebo-controlled follow-up studies. Only inositol is mentioned in the international guidelines: as ‘could be considered’. Some even have negative effects. We are also currently working on a first detailed national guideline for Germany, which will be published soon.

The herbal active ingredient artemisinin from mugwort is also used for other indications. These include artemisinin-based active ingredients against malaria parasites, although the WHO is already warning of resistance here. We do not yet know the exact effects of artemisinin on the human organism. The study by Liu et al. only examines how artemisinin effects the enzymes that are involved in PCOS. But they did not investigate what other effects the drug can cause. These could also be undesirable side effects.” “The study is methodologically well done. It provides good evidence of the mechanism of action on testosterone production in rodents. What it does not show, are positive effects on the metabolism, there are none at all. As already mentioned, there is a lack in the investigation of the effects in the rest of the body. Overall there could even be a harmful effect. The observational study on 19 patients who were only treated for 12 weeks is not sufficient.

 What we need is a randomized controlled trial to prove an effect in patients that goes beyond the placebo effect. Then we could look at the results again. Based on my experience with studies on other drug candidates, I don’t see any prospects for artemisinin at the moment. Resveratol, for example, initially showed similar effects on testosterone production, but the results from randomized controlled trials could not show any significant effects.