Table 1.

Characteristics of the included studies.

Study’s first author	Country	Study design	N° of subjects	BMI baseline	Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria	Lifestyle changes	Treatment	Duration (weeks)
Genazzani et al. (48)	Italy	RCT	(№ = 20)Treated: 10Control: 10	29 ± 1.627.8 ± 2.1	PCOS, oligo/amenorrhea, PRL range 5–25 ng/mL, mild to severe hirsutism and/or acne	Hormone treatments in the last 24 weeks; adrenal enzymatic deficiency and/or other endocrine disease	N	MI + FA vs FA	12
Costantino et al. (47)	Italy	DBRCT	(№ = 42)Treated: 23Control: 19	22.8 ± 0.322.5 ± 0.3	Age: <40 years, PCOS, oligomenorrhea, high serum-free T and/or hirsutism	Not described	N	MI + FA vs FA	12–16
Gerli et al. (49)	Italy	DBRCT	(№ = 92)Treated: 45Control: 47	3535.2	Age: <35 years, PCOS according to Adams and coworkers criteria (56), oligo/amenorrhea	Hyperprolactinemia, abnormal thyroid function tests, congenital adrenal hyperplasia	N	MI + FA vs FA	16
Artini et al. (46)	Italy	RCT	(№ = 50)Treated: 25Control: 25	28 ± 1.626.6 ± 2.1	PCOS, oligo/amenorrhea, PRL range 5–25 ng/mL, mild to severe hirsutism and/or acne	Hormone treatments in the last six months; adrenal enzymatic deficiency and/or other endocrine disease	N	MI + FA vs FA	12
Pizzo et al. (50)	Italy	DBRCT	(№ = 50)Treated:25Control: 25	25.1 ± 5.224.37 ± 5.31	PCOS according to Rotterdam’s criteria	Adrenal cortex hyperplasia, Cushing syndrome, non-classical deficiency of 21-hydroxylase, Addison syndrome, hypoadrenocorticalism, hypo/hypertiroidism, hyperprolactinemia	N	MI + FA vs DCI + FA	24
Pkhaladze (53)	Georgia	RCT	(№ = 40)Treated: 20Control: 20	22.3 ± 3.0822.74 ± 3.75	Age: 13–19 years, PCOS according to Rotterdam’s criteria	Patients within two years of menarche	Y	MI + FA vs OCPs	12
Ozay et al. (54)	Turkey	RCT	(№ = 106)Treated: 52Control: 54	25.33 ± 5.2023.79 ± 4.24	PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria	Smoking, hyperprolactinemia, hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, pregnancy, thyroid disease, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, androgen-secreting tumors and Cushing’s syndrome	N	MI + FA vs COC	12
Nordio and Proietti (51)	Italy	RCT	(№ = 50)Treated: 26Control: 24	27.5 ± 2.927.7 ± 2.3	Age: <41 years, BMI >27 kg/m2, PCOS according to Rotterdam criteria	Diabetic subjects, smokers and alcohol users	N	MI + DCI vs MI	24
Benelli et al. (52)	Italy	RCT	(№ = 46)Treated: 21 Control: 25	32 ± 4.831 ± 4.6	Age: <35 years, BMI >30 kg/m2, PCOS according to Rotterdam criteria	Diabetic subjects, smokers and alcohol users	N	MI + DCI vs FA	24

BMI, body mass index; COC, combined oral contraceptive; DBRCT, double-blind randomized controlled trials; DCI, d-chiro-inositol; FA, folic acid; MI, myo-inositol; N, No; OCPs, oral contraceptive pills; RCT, randomized controlled trials; Y, Yes.