Inositol and PCOS
What 3 graded rows on inositol agree on for PCOS, and where they differ. Counted side by side, never averaged.
Consensus finder Rows from the Inositol page, reviewed Oct 21, 2026 How it decides
What the rows agree on
Each block and row is one graded row from the Inositol page, with its PubMed record.
Your question
Inositol and PCOS
3 rows · 3,878 peopleThey agree: all 3 rows found an improvement.
- BGrade B× 1
- CGrade C× 2
- Rows
- 3
- Trials
- 61
- People
- 3,878
- Pooled reviews may count some twice
What the rows share
From the rowsThe best-graded row, grade B, is a meta-analysis of 1,691 people (2023) and found an improvement.
The rows run from 496 to 1,691 people, published from 2017 to 2023: 3 pooled reviews and 0 single studies.
The rows
3 improved- BGrade BRegular menstrual periods in PCOS · Improved
Meta-analysis, 26 studies · n 1,691 · 2023 · Women with PCOS in 26 RCTs (806 inositol, 311 placebo, 509 metformin)
Mostly 1,000–4,000 mg/day myo-inositol (4,000 mg most often); D-chiro-inositol 600–1,200 mg/day in two trials · 7–24 weeks
Regular periods were 1.79 times as likely as with placebo (95% CI 1.13–2.85), and inositol was non-inferior to metformin on this outcome.
- CGrade CTestosterone, androstenedione and SHBG in PCOS · Improved
Meta-analysis, 26 studies · n 1,691 · 2023 · Women with PCOS in 26 RCTs
Mostly 1,000–4,000 mg/day myo-inositol · 7–24 weeks
Compared with placebo, free testosterone (MD −0.41), total testosterone (MD −20.39), androstenedione (MD −0.69) and BMI (MD −0.45) fell more, and SHBG rose (MD +32.06).
- CGrade CFasting insulin and HOMA insulin resistance in PCOS · Improved
Meta-analysis, 9 studies · n 496 · 2017 · Women with PCOS in 9 RCTs (247 treated, 249 controls)
Varied across trials, up to 4,000 mg/day myo-inositol · 12–24 weeks or longer
Fasting insulin fell (SMD −1.02) and HOMA index fell (SMD −0.59) vs control; testosterone showed only a non-significant trend down. SHBG rose only in trials of at least 24 weeks.