Acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatment for women undergoing intrauterine insemination

Herbal fertility treatments used in North America from colonial times to 1900, and their potential for improving the success rate of assisted reproductive technology

“…Endometriosis associated with infertility has been diagnosed in TCM as kidney deficiency and blood stasis, and the TCM treatment is designed to address those underlying conditions first rather than sending the patient straight for ART treatment ( Ding and Lian, 2015 ). Other Chinese medicine diagnoses are called “tonification of the kidney system and of the spleen, qi tonification of the liver blood and heart blood, and harmonization of the liver…” which “roughly corresponds to anovulation patterns, thin endometrial lining and poor ovarian quality due to age” ( Sela et al, 2011 ).…”

“…Some plants could be used together with IVF or intrauterine insemination treatment; others would be used to support any resulting pregnancy according to the needs of the individual patient. Tailoring treatment to individual needs is the practice in Chinese medicine ( Sela et al, 2011 ). For clinical trials of plants, it may be necessary to group patients into infertility groups with similar causes, such as luteal-phase defect or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), to test specific plants.…”

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“…From the evidence it appears that using whole TCM treatment may achieve the best results for both natural pregnancy and IVF. K Sela et al [51] observed the effect of combining acupuncture and medicinal herbs as a therapeutic adjuvant to ovulation induction with intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedures, and evaluated its contribution to pregnancy and "take-home baby" rates. The retrospective study was carried out in a universityaffiliated municipal hospital.…”

“…The group concluded that TCM appeared to be beneficial as an adjunctive treatment in IUI procedures. They called for randomised controlled trials to further assess the role of acupuncture and herbs in this setting [51]. E Lee et al [52] observed that whole-systems traditional Chinese medicine (WS-TCM) was a multi-dimensional intervention that could include any combination of modalities classified under the system of TCM.…”

Gui Shao Di Huang Wan promotes angiogenesis and regulates oestrogen receptor α and progesterone receptor β in in vitro bioassays

“…At a simplisLc level, rising oestrogen levels in the secretory phase predominantly enhances endometrial cell proliferaLon, while progesterone in the secretory phase leads to differenLaLon 7 . Subendometrial vascularity is reduced in women with inferLlity 9 as is uterine perfusion 10 . Increased uterine perfusion and vascular permeability enhances nutrient transport to the embryo 11 and facilitates the embryo maternal signalling which is necessary for successful implantaLon 12 .…”