Medicinal Plants including Spices for the Treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) with a Preclinical-Clinical Perspective and Phytotherapeutic Approaches

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common metabolicendocrine and multi-faceted gynecological disorders for reproductive-aged women. This condition has multiple undesirable effects with psychological, reproductive, and metabolic evidence. Multi-systemic adverse effects and conditions in PCOS cause irregular menstrual cycles, hirsutism, infertility, insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunctions, and eating disorders. PCOS symptoms are multi-faceted and alterable for each person, leading to different treatment methods evaluated from different perspectives. There are no definitive and ideal treatments for hormonal disorders-related clinical symptoms. Alternative therapies are also considered instead of commercially available drugs. In addition, alternative treatment methods have increased tremendously in recent years due to their minimal side effects. Since the therapies for PCOS require a multidisciplinary approach to understanding all aspects of this condition, medicinal plants should also be considered. The role of medicinal plants, including spices and their bioactive components, has been encouraged to prevent and treat PCOS, with new treatment strategies yielding promising results. Therefore, in this review, a general evaluation of the plants and herbal products in PCOS has been compiled from the preclinical and clinical point of view, with the current publications based on in vitro, preclinical, and clinical studies as a new perspective. Moreover, traditional usages of the plants, based on the ethnopharmacological aspects of PCOS, have been evaluated. The effects and underlying mechanisms of herbal medicines used as a remedy for PCOS were also reviewed with the expectation of herbs-spices and new herbal-based products that are effective on PCOS for future treatments.