Abstract
Background Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders among women of reproductive age. As a widely used complementary and alternative therapy, acupuncture is increasingly used to treat PCOS. However, the effect of acupuncture in treating PCOS is uncertain, and the mechanisms are unclear. This systematic review aims to determine the efficacy of acupuncture on PCOS in animal preclinical models. Methods Experimental animal studies of acupuncture in PCOS animal models were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database from inception to December 2020. The risk of bias was assessed using the Systematic Review Centre for Laboratory Animal Experimentation (SYRCLE) risk of bias tool. Results A total of 358 studies were screened based on the title and abstract, and 31 studies were included. A total of 722 animals were involved, and all studies used either Wistar rats or SD rats. Twenty-six studies used electroacupuncture, 9 studies used manual acupuncture, and 5 of them employed both electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture. A total of 22 acupoints were involved; 7 studies followed the modern acupuncture pattern, and the rest followed classic acupuncture theory. Conclusions The present review summarizes the current evidence of the effects of acupuncture on PCOS in animal models. Unfortunately, we could not draw a definite conclusion due to the methodological weakness of the included studies and the high heterogeneity. Well-designed studies are needed in the future to fill this gap.
Highlights
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a heterogeneous endocrine disorder among females of reproductive age. e worldwide prevalence of PCOS is 8–13% in women and 6% in adolescent girls [1,2,3]
Several systematic reviews have been conducted on the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for women with PCOS, but due to the high risk of bias and heterogeneity, the levels of evidence are low [12]. ere is an insufficient amount of research evidence to support the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment for women with PCOS
No systematic review has been published to summarize the effects of acupuncture in PCOS animal models. is systematic review of animal experiments is an efficient means of enhancing the value of animal experiments, which reduces the risk of the translation of animal experiments to the clinic. erefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate the currently available evidence of acupuncture in PCOS animal models and provide valuable directions to inform clinical practice
Summary
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrine disorders among women of reproductive age. The effect of acupuncture in treating PCOS is uncertain, and the mechanisms are unclear. Is systematic review aims to determine the efficacy of acupuncture on PCOS in animal preclinical models. Experimental animal studies of acupuncture in PCOS animal models were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, and the Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database from inception to December 2020. A total of 722 animals were involved, and all studies used either Wistar rats or SD rats. A total of 22 acupoints were involved; 7 studies followed the modern acupuncture pattern, and the rest followed classic acupuncture theory. E present review summarizes the current evidence of the effects of acupuncture on PCOS in animal models. We could not draw a definite conclusion due to the methodological weakness of the included studies and the high heterogeneity. Well-designed studies are needed in the future to fill this gap
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