Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Suturina, Larisa; Belkova, Natalia; Sidorova, Tuyana; Smurova, Nadezhda; Igumnov, Ilia; Lazareva, Lyudmila; Danusevich, Irina; Nadeliaeva, Iana; Sholokhov, Leonid; Belenkaia, Liliia; Atalyan, Alina

doi:10.3390/ijms27072974

Open AccessArticle

Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

by

Larisa Suturina

^*

,

Natalia Belkova

,

Tuyana Sidorova

,

Nadezhda Smurova

,

Ilia Igumnov

,

Lyudmila Lazareva

,

Irina Danusevich

,

Iana Nadeliaeva

,

Leonid Sholokhov

,

Liliia Belenkaia

and

Alina Atalyan

Federal State Budgetary Scientific Institution “Scientific Centre for Family Health and Human Reproduction Problems”, 16, Timiryazeva Str., 664003 Irkutsk, Russia

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(7), 2974; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27072974

Submission received: 13 February 2026 / Revised: 20 March 2026 / Accepted: 23 March 2026 / Published: 25 March 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Dysbiosis in Chronic Diseases)

Download Versions Notes

Abstract

Previously, the role of decreased biodiversity of gut microbiota in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was demonstrated, but the objective criteria for assessing the representation of microorganisms associated with hyperandrogenemia (HA) were limited. A total of 175 premenopausal women (26 women with PCOS and HA and 149 women without HA, including 19 healthy controls) were recruited during the Eastern Siberia PCOS Epidemiology and Phenotype (ESPEP) Study (2016–2019). Methods included a questionnaire survey, clinical examination, pelvic U/S, blood and feces sampling. Gut microbiome was analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of the V1–V3 of the variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene (Illumina MiSeq, San Diego, CA, USA). Amplicon libraries of 16S rDNA were processed using the QIIME2 bioinformatics pipeline. All data were analyzed using R 3.6.3. The gut microbiocenosis in women with HA was characterized by a higher representation of Lactobacillus and a lower prevalence of the Clostridia class. For Faecalibacterium, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, and [Eubacterium] eligens group the cut-off values of their relative presence, associated with HA, were estimated as: ≤0.043%, ≤0.039%, and ≤0.02%, respectively. Conclusions: Women with PCOS-associated HA demonstrate a lower prevalence, predominantly, of Clostridia class gut microorganisms, compared with those without any forms of HA. The study presents the quantitative criteria for assessing the representation of gut microorganisms, negatively associated with hyperandrogenic phenotypes of PCOS. The threshold values proposed may be useful to justify the administration of probiotics in PCOS patients with HA.

Keywords: androgens; hyperandrogenemia; polycystic ovary syndrome; PCOS; gut microbiota; amplicon metasequencing

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Suturina, L.; Belkova, N.; Sidorova, T.; Smurova, N.; Igumnov, I.; Lazareva, L.; Danusevich, I.; Nadeliaeva, I.; Sholokhov, L.; Belenkaia, L.; et al. Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27, 2974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27072974

AMA Style

Suturina L, Belkova N, Sidorova T, Smurova N, Igumnov I, Lazareva L, Danusevich I, Nadeliaeva I, Sholokhov L, Belenkaia L, et al. Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2026; 27(7):2974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27072974

Chicago/Turabian Style

Suturina, Larisa, Natalia Belkova, Tuyana Sidorova, Nadezhda Smurova, Ilia Igumnov, Lyudmila Lazareva, Irina Danusevich, Iana Nadeliaeva, Leonid Sholokhov, Liliia Belenkaia, and et al. 2026. "Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome" International Journal of Molecular Sciences 27, no. 7: 2974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27072974

APA Style

Suturina, L., Belkova, N., Sidorova, T., Smurova, N., Igumnov, I., Lazareva, L., Danusevich, I., Nadeliaeva, I., Sholokhov, L., Belenkaia, L., & Atalyan, A. (2026). Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 27(7), 2974. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27072974

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Gut Microorganisms as Markers of Hyperandrogenemia in Premenopausal Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI