Abstract: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a group of heterogeneous endocrine diseases which is characterized by oligoovulatory and anovulatory, infertility, hyperandrogenism and so on. Insulin resistance (IR) is an important endocrine manifestation of PCOS, besides it is also one of the possible pathogenesis of PCOS. Recently berberine (BBR), puerarin, cryptotanshintone, glycyrrhetinic acid and other traditional Chinese herb extracts have attracted widespread attention in the treatment of IR in PCOS patients. A large number of studies show that the mechanism includes adenosine 5′-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and so on. This article is a review of the possibly mechanism about traditional Chinese herb extracts in the improvement of PCOS with insulin resistance.

Key words: Polycystic ovary syndrome, Insulin resistance, Chemical principles（TCD）, Traditional Chinese herb extracts