Table 1.

In vitro studies of natural products in PCOS treatment.

Classification	Compound/Extract	Source	Experimental Model	Dose; Duration	Efficacy	Mechanism	Reference
Terpene	Paeoniflorin extract	Paeonia lactiflora Pall	Primary theca cells isolated from ovaries of non-pregnant female mice	1, 10,100, 1000 μg/mL; 24 h	Reversion of dexamethasone-induced testosterone over-secretion	↓CYP17A1, CYP11A1	[15]
Decoction	Gui Zhu Yi Kun formula (Tu Si-Zi, Bai zhu, Dang Gui, Sha Shen, Che Qian-Zi, Qian Cao, Si Gua-Luo)	Semen cuscutae, Rhizoma atractylodis Macrocephalae, Angelica sinensis, Adenophora tetraphylla, Plantago asiatica, Rubia cordifolia, Luffa cyclindrica	Granulosa cells of PCOS rats	5, 10 20 g/kg/day; 4 days	Reduction of PCOS risk	↑ mTOR, AMPKα, p-mTOR ↓Beclin-1, LC3, p53, sestrin2	[27]

CYP17A1, cytochrome p450 family 17 subfamily a member 1; CYP11A1, cytochrome p450 family 11 subfamily a member 1; mTOR, mechanistic target of rapamycin; AMPKα, AMP-activated protein kinase; p-mTOR, phospho-mechanistic target of rapamycin; LC3, light chain 3; ↑, up-regulation; ↓, down-regulation.