Modulation of hormonal, metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in women with polycystic ovary syndrome following combined (resistant and endurance) training: a randomized controlled trail.

Purpose: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a frequent disorder among women. Exercise training has been known as an effective treatment for this disorder; however, there is small amount of evidence examining the optimal exercise programs. We evaluated the function of combined (COM) training on metabolic, hormonal parameters, and biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation in PCOS patients.

Methods: This randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted on 30 women with PCOS divided (age: 23.8 ± 5.3 years, height:162.8 ± 4.9 cm, weight: 82.4 ± 9.7 kg, body mass index: 30.3 ± 3.9 kg/m) into two groups to receive COM training intervention (n = 15) or control group (n = 15) for eight weeks. At the baseline and end-of-intervention, metabolic profiles including fasting plasma glucose, insulin, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), lipid profiles, testosterone, free androgen index (FAI), sex hormone binding globulin, anti-Müllerian hormone, malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity, and high Sensitive-C reactive protein were evaluated.

Results: After eight-week intervention in training group, insulin (P < 0.001), HOMA-IR (P < 0.001), total cholesterol (P < 0.001), LDL-cholesterol (P < 0.001), total testosterone (P < 0.001), AMH ( P = 0.02),MDA (P = 0.04) and FAI (P < 0.001) were significantly decreased, while QUICKI (P = 0.002) was remarkably increased compared with the control group. Moreover, findings showed that there are no significant differences in other variables in the training group compared to the control group.

Conclusions: We concluded that combined training is an effective training protocol (50%-70% 1RM for strength training and 60%-70 THR for endurance training) for treatment of PCOS, although further studies are needed to reach comprehensive data regarding the design of exercise protocols with different intensity and volume for PCOS patients.

Trial Registration: Registered retrospectively in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20130812014333N143) on March 22, 2020. Access at https://en.irct.ir/trial/46295 .