Mountain Top University Library

ABSTRACT
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder that is common to women of
reproductive age. This study aims to evaluate the effects of the oral administration of ALA and
olive oil in letrozole-induced polycystic ovarian syndrome rats. Thirty-five rats were randomly
divided and acclimatized into a group of five consisting of seven animals each. Letrozole (1mg/kg)
was administered orally for 14 days to induce PCOS in groups two to five after the period of
acclimatization. Normal control (group 1) and PCOS control group (group 2) received 0.5ml/day
of saline water, and the three groups of PCOS rats were administrated 7.14 mg/kg of metformin
and 2mg/kg of clomiphene citrate (group 3), 1mg/kg body weight of ALA (group 4), and 0.8ml/kg
of olive oil (group 5) for 14 days. Finally, blood samples were collected and ovaries harvested and
fixed in 10% formalin to determine the biological and stereological parameters. Compared to the
PCOS control, the effect of the co-administrated drugs, ALA, and olive oil significantly improved
the testosterone level (p<0.05). Although ALA and the co-administrated drugs caused a significant
decrease in the LH level, no significant change was observed in terms of LH level in the olive oil
group compared to the PCOS control group (p<0.05). There was a modest significance (p<0.05)
or no change observed in the effect of the co-administrated drugs, ALA, and olive oil on the FSH
level compared to the PCOS control rats. Data of the study showed that the administration of ALA
and olive oil may have beneficial effects on the biochemical factors in PCOS-induced rats.
Keywords: Polycystic ovaries, inflammation, LH, FSH, testosterone, alpha-lipoic acid, Olive oil.