Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Review Article

Acupuncture for Female Infertility: Discussion on Action Mechanism and Application

Table 2

Characteristics of animal studies.


First author	Year	Experimental object	Modeling drugs	Intervention	Course of treatment (times)	Evaluating indicator
First author	Year	Experimental object	Modeling drugs	Intervention	Course of treatment (times)

Stener-victorin E	2000	PCO rats	EV	EA	12	NGF⬇	Ovarian morphology (-)
Stener-victorin E	2001	PCO rats	EV	EA	12	CRF⬇	——
Stener-victorin E	2003	PCO rats	EV	EA	12	NGF⬇, ET-1⬇	——
Stener-victorin E	2004	PCO rats	EV	EA	12	β-Endorphins⬆	NK cell, CD4 + /CD8 + T cell (-)
Zhang WY	2009	PCO rats	DHEA	Acupuncture	5	(NEI, Ovarian morphology, ET, E₂)⬆, T⬇	TSH, LH, P (-)
Huang J	2020	PCO rats	LE	EA	14	(AMH, PI3K, AKT)⬆, (T, LH, LC3 II/I)⬇	Ovarian morphology (-)
Gao W	2013	ETF rats	Mifepristone	Acupuncture	10	(NEI, CCL2, CXCL8, uNK cell subsets)⬆	——
Zhu S	2016	COH mice	Gn	EA	7	(NEI, IGF-1)⬆	——
Wang S	2019	POF rats	CTX	Acupuncture	21	(E₂, PI3K, Akt, BCL-2)⬆, (BAX, FSH)⬇	Ovarian morphology (-)
Zhong H	2019	POF rats	CTX	EA	7	(NF, LS, E2, AMH)⬆, (PI3K, AKT, mTOR, S6K, 4E-BP1, FSH, LH)⬇	——

Note. PCO: Polycystic ovary; ETF: Embryo transfer failure; COH: Controlled ovarian hyperstimulation; POF: Premature ovarian failure; EV: Estradiol valerate; DHEA: Dehydroepiandrosterone; LE: Letrozole; Gn: Gonadotropin; CTX: Cyclophosphamide; EA: Electroacupuncture; NGF: Nerve growth factor; CRF: Corticotropin releasing factor; ET-1: Endothelin-1; FSH: Follicle stimulating hormone; E₂: Estradiol; T: Testosterone; ET: Endometrial thickness; NEI: Number of embryo implantation; LH: Luteinizing hormone; AMH: Anti-Mullerian hormone; LC3: Microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3; PI3K: Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase; AKT: Protein kinase B; CCL2: CC chemokine subfamily L2; CXCL8: CXC chemokine subfamily L8; IGF-1: Insulin growth factor; BCL-2: B-cell lymphoma-2; BAX: Bcl2-Associated X; NK cell: Natural killer cell; mTOR: mammalian target of rapamycin; S6K: S6 kinase; 4E-BP1: 4E-Binding Protein1; NF: Number of follicles; LS: Litter size; ⬆: Improve; ⬇: Reduce; (-): Unchanged.