Table 1 Characteristics of included studies

Malvasi et al. [17]

Italy/overweight pregnant

138 mg MI + 550 mg DCI

60 days

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

32.31 ± 5.99, 32.35 ± 4.62

Decreased TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, TG

Cianci et al. [27]

Italy/PCOS

1000 mg DCI + 600 mg a-lipoic acid

180 days

TG, TC, HDL-C

23.8 ± 2.5

Increased HDL-C

Malvasi et al. [18]

Italy/overweight pregnant

2000 mg MI + 400 mg DCI + 400 μg FA + 10 mg manganese

60 days

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

31.58 ± 5.66, 32.2 ± 5.46

Decreased TC, LDL-C, HDL-C and TG

D’Anna et al. [24]

Italy/postmenopausal women with MetS

2000 mg MI + 30 mg cocoa polyphenols + 80 mg soy isoflavones

6 months

TG, HDL-C

55.5 ± 4.8, 56.3 ± 3.8

Decreased TG

Capasso et al. [25]

Italy/postmenopausal women with MetS

4000 mg Inositol + a-lipoic acid

6 months

TG, TC, HDL-C

58.2 ± 5.6, 57.71 ± 7.9

Decreased TG, increased HDL-C

Santamaria et al. [26]

Italy/postmenopausal women with MetS

4000 mg MI (2 g b.i.d)

12 months

TG, TC, HDL-C

55 ± 3.2, 55.6 ± 3.2

Decreased TG, TC, increased HDL-C

Giordano et al. [11]

Italy/postmenopausal women with MetS

4000 mg MI (2 g b.i.d)

6 months

TG, TC, HDL-C

55 ± 3.2, 55.6 ± 3.2

Decreased TG, TC, increased HDL-C

Minozzi et al. [28]

Italy/PCOS

4000 mg MI + 400 μg FA + combined OCP

12 months

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

29.4 ± 4.1, 28.8 ± 3.8

Decreased LDL-C, increased HDL-C

Costantino et al. [19]

Italy/PCOS

4000 mg MI + 400 μg FA

12–16 weeks

TG, TC

27.1 ± 1.4, 28.8 ± 1.5

Decreased TG, TC

Gerli et al. [20]

Italy/PCOS

4000 mg MI + 400 μg FA

14 weeks

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

29.7 CI [28.5–30.9], 29.0 CI [27.1–30.9]

Increased HDL-C

Kim et al. [21]

Republic of Korea/T2DM

1200 mg (600 mg twice) pinitol (D-3-O-methyl-Chiro-Inositol)

13 weeks

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

61.7 ± 7.74, 59.9 ± 12

Decreased TC, LDL-C, Increased HDL-C

Gerli et al. [22]

Italy/PCOS

200 mg (100 mg twice) inositol

14 weeks

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

29.2 CI [27.5–30.7], 28.6 CI [26.9–30.3]

Increased HDL-C

Iuorno et al. [16]

Venezuela/PCOS

600 mg DCI

6–8 weeks

TG, TC

26.5 ± 4.42, 28.2 ± 4.74

Decreased TG, TC

Nestler et al. [23]

Venezuela/PCOS

1200 mg DCI

6–8 weeks

TG, TC, LDL-C, HDL-C

26 ± 5, 29 ± 6

Decreased TG