Objective: To observe the effect of abdominal acupuncture on the endocrine and metabolic level in obesity-type polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patients.
Methods: Eighty-six PCOS patients were randomly and equally divided into medication group and abdominal acupuncture group. Patients of medication group were treated with metformin (250 mg/time, t.i. d. in the 1st week, and 500 mg/time, t.i.d. thereafter) for 6 months,and those of abdominal acupuncture group were treated by abdominal acupuncture [Zhongwan (CV 12), Liangmen (ST 21), etc., once daily for 6 months]. Changes of the body height, body Mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio (WHR), Ferriman-Galleey score (FGS), menstrual frequency (MF) and ovarian volume (OV) were determined. Serum luteotrophic hormone (LH), free testosterone (T), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) contents were detected with radioimmunoassay. Fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FIN), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), Homa insulin resistance index (IRI) were detected with chromatometry respectively.
Results: After the treatment, BMI, WHR, FGS and OV were reduced significantly in both medication and abdominal acupuncture groups (P < 0.05), while MF of the two groups increased evidently (P < 0.05), and the effects of abdominal acupuncture group were significantly superior to those of medication group in down-regulating BMI, WHR and upregulating MF (P < 0.05). Regarding the reproductive hormons, serum LH, LH/FSH and T levels in the two groups decreased significantly (P< 0.05), and the effect of abdominal acupuncture was superior to that of medication group in reducing serum T level (P < 0.05). Following the treatment, FBG, BG and FIN and INS contents 2 h after meal,and Homa IR in both medication and abdominal acupuncture groups all decreased considerably (P < 0.05), but without significant differences between them (P > 0.05). Regarding the blood lipid levels after the treatment, serum TC, TG, and LDL-C levels of the two groups decreased significantly (P < 0.05), while serum HDL-C level increased remarkably (P<0.05), without significant differences between the two groups in these indexes (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Abdominal acupuncture treatment can improve the endocrine and metabolic function of patients with obesity-type PCOS.