Gut microbiota in adolescent girls with polycystic ovary syndrome: Effects of randomized treatments

Background Girls with obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and women with PCOS have altered gut microbiota. Objective To study the gut microbiota composition of girls with PCOS without obesity (age, 15.8 years; body mass index [BMI] 25 kg/m(2)) and the effects of randomized treatments with an oral contraceptive (OC, N = 15) or with spironolactone-pioglitazone-metformin (SPIOMET, N = 15) for 1 year. Thirty-one age-matched girls served as controls. Methods 16S ribosomal subunit gene amplicon sequencing was performed in stool samples from all subjects; samples from 23 out of 30 girls with PCOS (OC, N = 12; SPIOMET, N = 11) were available for analysis post-treatment. Clinical and endocrine-metabolic variables were measured before and after intervention. Results Girls with PCOS had decreased diversity alpha, altered microbiota pattern and taxonomic profile with more abundance ofFamily XI(P= .002), and less abundance of familyPrevotellaceae(P= .0006) the genusPrevotella(P= .0001) andSenegalimassilia(P < .0001), as compared to controls.Family XIabundance related positively to hepato-visceral fat (R = 0.453;P= .0003). SPIOMET treatment, but not OC, normalized the abundance ofFamily XI.Prevotellaceae,PrevotellaandSenegalimassiliaabundance remained unchanged after either treatment. Conclusion SPIOMET's spectrum of normalizing effects in girls with PCOS is herewith broadened as to includeFamily XIabundance in gut microbiota.

Automated summary

The gut microbiota composition in girls with PCOS differs significantly from healthy controls, with SPIOMET treatment showing the potential to normalize some of these anomalies.