Effects of electroacupuncture and Chinese kidney-nourishing medicine on polycystic ovary syndrome in obese patients

OBJECTIVE： To explore the effect of electroacu- puncture and Chinese kidney-nourishing medicine on insulin （INS）, adiponectin （APN）, leptin （LEP）, and glucolipid metabolism of obese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）. METHODS： Sixty-seven obese PCOS patients were randomly divided into two groups. Thirty-three pa- tients in the acupuncture-medicine group were treated three times a week with electroacupunc- ture at the Tianshu （ST 25）, Zhongwan （CV ] 2）, Qi- hai （CV 6）, Sanyinjiao （SP 6）, Geshu （BL 17）, and Cil-iao （BL 32） acupoints. They drug, Tiankui capsule, for 3 treatment. Point-taking and also took the Chinese months as a course of treatment in the elec- troacupuncture group of 34 patients was the same as those in the acupuncture-medicine group. We observed and compared the changes in the obesi- ty-related indexes of body weight （BW）, body mass index （BMI）, and waist-hip ratio （WHR）, as well as fasting plasma glucose （FPG）, fasting insulin （FINS）, APN, and LER RESULTS： BW, BMI, WHR, and FINS decreased and insulin sensitivity index （ISI） and APN were higher in the acupuncture-medicine group than in the electroacupuncture group （P〈0.01）. There was no obvious difference in LEP between the two groups （P〉0.05）. CONCLUSION： Acupuncture combined with medi- cine is better than just electroacupuncture for obese PCOS patients by improving obesity-related indexes, insulin sensitivity, and APN level. This indi- cates that acupuncture-medicine therapy is worth clinical popularization.

Does acupuncture response increase with the increasing dosage:A preclinical study investigating rats with sleep deprivation

Background:The effectiveness of acupuncture for insomnia and insomnia-related anxiety and depression has been widely investigated in clinical trials.However,whether higher dosage(more frequent)acupuncture can bring greater responses(a greater size of effect)is less understood.Objective:This study is designed to investigate whether a five-times weekly(5 Ts/w)electroacupuncture(EA)treatment is better than a three-times weekly(3 Ts/w)EA in alleviating sleep deprivation,and sleep disturbance-induced cognitive dysfunctions and negative emotions in rats through four various behavioral te sts.Methods:Forty-six male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group(n=10),model group(n=12),EA-3 Ts/w group(n=12),and EA-5 Ts/w group(n=12).Except for the control group,the other three groups were established as chronic sleep deprivation models via the modified multi-platform water environment methodology.Then,rats in both EA-3 Ts/w group and EA-5 Ts/w group received corresponding dosage of EA therapy,respectively.After modeling and interventions,all four groups received four behavioral tests as follows:(1)sleep behavioral monitoring and evaluation was achieved by Comprehensive Lab Animal Monitoring System(CLAMS).(2)Cognitive functions were assessed by Novel Object Recognition(NOR)test.(3)Depressive-like behaviors was evaluated by Open-Field(OF)test.(4)Anxietylike behaviors was appraised by Elevated Plus-Maze(EPM)test.After finishing the behavioral tests,the hippocampus of each rat was removed and its synaptic structure changes were observed under electron microscope.Results:(1)CLAMS:two EA groups derived more sleep time within 24 h than the model group(both P<0.05),and no statistical differences was found between these two EA groups(P>0.05).(2)NOR test:NOR ratio in the EA-3 Ts/w group was higher than that of the model group(P<0.05)but lower than that of either the control group(P<0.05)or the EA-5 Ts/w group(P<0.05).(3)OF test:the difference of horizontal movements between the EA-3 Ts/w group and the EA-5 Ts/w group was not significant(P>0.05),although both of them were lower than that of the control group(both P<0.05)but higher than that of the model group(P<0.05).(4)EPM test:no significant decline of open-arm total time(OT)was found in EA-3 Ts/w group(P>0.05)but was found in both the model group(P<0.05)and the EA-5 Ts/w group(P<0.05)compared to the control group.Conclusion:(1)Five-week EA treatment can partially mitigate cognitive dysfunctions,anxiety-like behaviors,and depressive behaviors in rats with sleep deprivation,and this effect might be associated with the repairs on mitochondrial damage in hippocampal neurons.(2)There is insufficient evidence supporting 3 Ts/w EA treatment is less effective than 5 Ts/w EA treatment in mitigating sleep deprivation symptoms and depressive behaviors induced by sleep deprivation among rats.(3)5 Ts/w EA treatment might be more effective than 3 Ts/w EA treatment in attenuating sleep deprivation-induced cognitive impairments while it might further increase rat’s anxiety-like behaviors at the same time.