The effect of combination therapy with metformin and combined oral contraceptives (COC) versus COC alone on insulin sensitivity, hyperandrogenaemia, SHBG and lipids in PCOS patients

Abstract

Adding metformin slightly modified the treatment effect of COC, causing a more significant decrease in the free androgen index but having no additional positive impact on lipids, insulin sensitivity, SHBG or testosterone. The available data do not offer enough evidence to advocate the standard use of combined treatment in PCOS. Whether the combination might be beneficial for specific subgroups of patients is of further interest.