Inclusion and exclusion criteria
polycystic ovaries, liver or renal failure or active liver disease, PCOS, overweight, malignant tumor
POLYCYSTIC OVARIES, UNCONTROLLED HYPERTENSION, OLIGOMENORRHOEA, MALIGNANT TUMOR, HYPERANDROGENISM, INSULIN SENSITIVITY
The patient inclusion criteria were (a) clinical diagnosis of PCOS according to the Rotterdam criteria based on the presence of two of three criteria (3), oligomenorrhoea, clinical or biochemical hyperandrogenism, and polycystic ovaries on ultrasound after exclusion of other endocrine causes of hyperandrogenism; (b) participants had no concurrent illness and were not on any prescription or over-the-counter medication that was likely to affect insulin sensitivity or lipids for the preceding 12 weeks; (c) participants were advised not to change physical activity or dietary habits during the study period; (d) given that all subjects were of Asian ethnicity, overweight was defined as BMI ≥ 24 kg/mThe patient exclusion criteria were (a) age below 18 years or over 50 years; (b) uncontrolled hypertension (blood pressure ≥160/100 mmHg); (c) signs of liver or renal failure or active liver disease (alanine transaminase (ALT) > 2.5× the upper limit of normal values); (d) patients who were postmenopausal or pregnant; (e) alcohol intake greater than 20 g/day; (f) patients who could not complete the intervention or had other conditions that made them ineligible for participation. For example, patients taking glucocorticoid steroids or under treatment for a malignant tumor were excluded.