ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Edible Bird's Nest Ameliorates Hyperandrogenism and Gonadotropin Imbalance in a Rat Model of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shandong Institute for Food and Drug Control, Jinan, China
- 2Hebei Edible Bird's Nest Fresh Stew Technology Innovation Center （Langfang 065700, China）, Langfang, China
- 3Institute of Pharmacy, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Edible bird’s nest (EBN) is a traditional functional food consumed for its purported reproductive health benefits. However, robust preclinical evidence supporting its efficacy in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)—a prevalent endocrine disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism and gonadotropin dysregulation—is lacking. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a commercially available fresh EBN product on reproductive endocrine, metabolic, and ovarian parameters in a letrozole-induced PCOS rat model. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 6 groups (n = 8/group): blank control, PCOS model control, normal control, low-dose EBN (5mg/kg/day), medium-dose EBN (10 mg/kg/day) high-dose EBN (20 mg/kg/day). PCOS was induced by subcutaneous letrozole (1 mg/kg/day) combined with a high-fat/high-sucrose diet for 21 days, followed by 28 days of oral intervention. Estrous cyclicity, serum sex hormones (LH, FSH, testosterone, estradiol), glucose tolerance (OGTT), systemic inflammation, and ovarian histopathology were assessed. EBN treatment significantly ameliorated hyperandrogenism and gonadotropin imbalance in PCOS rats: it reduced elevated serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone levels, lowered the LH/FSH ratio, and increased suppressed follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estradiol (all p < 0.05 vs. model control). However, these endocrine improvements were not accompanied by restoration of regular estrous cyclicity, reversal of polycystic ovarian morphology, or improvement in glucose intolerance. No significant changes in systemic inflammatory markers were observed. Oral administration of fresh edible bird’s nest effectively corrects key reproductive hormonal disturbances in a rat model of PCOS. While these findings support a potential role for EBN as a dietary modulator of the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, its inability to restore ovulatory function or metabolic parameters underscores the complexity of PCOS pathophysiology and the need for multifaceted therapeutic approaches.
Keywords: Edible bird's nest, endocrine regulation, Functional Food, Letrozole model, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Sex hormone balance
Received: 03 Jan 2026; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Jiao, Yuan, Shang, Qiu, Juan and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Dongliang Wang
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.