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The Effect of Berberine on Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Patients with Insulin Resistance (PCOS-IR): A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

Li MF, Zhou XM, Li XL

Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM 2018 2018:2532935

Bibliography

PubMed: PMID 30538756
PubMed Central: PMC6261244
DOI: 10.1155/2018/2532935
Funding: Reported funding sources: Natural Science Foundation from Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality; Foundation from Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning. Grant and funder-role details are in the publication.
Competing interests: The authors declared no competing interests in the publication.

Design	Systematic review and meta-analysis
Model	Published human studies
Sample	9 randomized trials
Intervention	Evidence synthesis; interventions and comparators vary across included studies
Duration	No new treatment; included-study durations vary
Endpoints	Pooled clinical or metabolic outcomes; Risk of bias and heterogeneity; Adverse-event reporting

Berberine did not clearly outperform metformin on several metabolic/reproductive measures, and add-on findings were inconsistent.

Berberine did not clearly outperform metformin on several metabolic/reproductive measures, and add-on findings were inconsistent.

The authors found insufficient data for firm conclusions; later trial-integrity concerns add uncertainty.

Editorial review

Last verified 22 October 2026