Metabolic response to folate supplementation in overweight women with polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.

SCOPE This study was conducted to determine the effects of folate supplementation on metabolic profiles in obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). METHODS AND RESULTS This randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted among 81 obese women (weight range: 65-110 kg) aged 18-40 year old diagnosed with PCOS. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups receiving: (1) Folate-1: 1 mg/day folate supplements (n = 27); (2) Folate-5: 5 mg/day folate supplements (n = 27), and (3) placebo (n = 27) for 8 weeks. Fasting blood samples were taken at baseline and after 8 weeks' intervention to quantify glucose metabolism and lipid concentrations. Folate supplementation (5 mg), compared with folate-1 and placebo, resulted in reduced plasma homocysteine (p-interaction = 0.009), homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance score (p-interaction = 0.01), and total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio (p-interaction = 0.01). Furthermore, we found a significant difference in mean change of serum total cholesterol (p-interaction = 0.01), LDL- (p-interaction = 0.007), and non-HDL-cholesterol levels (p = 0.01) in the folate-5 group compared with folate-1 and placebo. CONCLUSION 5 mg/day folate supplementation for 8 weeks among women with PCOS had beneficial effects on metabolic profiles.