Chinese medicine as complementary therapy for female infertility

Abstract

Chinese medicine (CM) has been used in clinical treatment for thousands of years in China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. CM is at present attracting many attentions around the world for reproductive health care and disease prevention, including treatment of female infertility. This review focuses on the CM treatment for female infertility patients, and supplies a summary on the efficacy, safety, and mechanism of some Chinese herbal medicines, herbal medicine-derived active compounds, and acupuncture. A large number of researches have reported that CM could alleviate or even cure female infertility by regulating hormone, improving reproductive outcome of in vivo fertilization, affecting embryonic implantation, curing polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, relieving mental stress, and regulating immune system. Meanwhile, a few studies claimed that there was little adverse reaction of CM in randomized controlled trials. However, up to present there is a lack of adequate evidences with molecular mechanistic researches and randomized controlled trials to prove the CM as an effective and safe treatment for infertility. Thus, utility of CM as a complementary medicine will be a feasible method to improve the outcome of female infertility treatment.

Complementary and Alternative Therapy with Traditional Chinese Medicine for Infertility

“…Finally, the results of the Fertility Problem Inventory (FPI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) questionnaires revealed that women sufer greater anxiety and sexual infertility stress than men [78]. High levels of stress afect female hormone levels and disrupt ovulation by afecting the HPO axis [67]. These studies all highlight a need for additional research into the potential beneits of acupuncture and moxibustion for the management of infertile patients.…”

“…One study showed that repeated EA on the arcuate nucleus (Arc) can regulate the function of the HPG axis by suppressing Arc discharge, serum testosterone, sperm count, and GnRH mRNA expression [66]. Therefore, electrical stimulation may be an efective alternative to medications to regulate the HPG axis [67]. Another clinical trial in humans showed that 10-Hz EA stimulation of the abdominal acupuncture points ST-29 (guilai) increased testicular blood low (TBF), but simple needle insertion and 2-Hz EA stimulation did not [68].…”

“…Acupuncture improves IVF outcomes through four potential mechanisms: (1) by increasing blood low to the uterus; (2) by regulating neuroendocrinological factors and the ovaries; (3) by modulating cytokine levels; and (4) by decreasing levels of anxiety, stress, and depression [74]. A successful pregnancy relies on the presence of adequate uterine blood low and endometrial thickness, and these factors are especially important in pregnancies conceived through IVF and ET [67]. A study of infertile women with a high pulsatility index (PI) and downregulated with a GnRH analog to exclude any luctuating endogenous hormone efects on the PI, revealed that EA reduced uterine artery blood low impedance [75].…”

Mini review: The FDA‐approved prescription drugs that induce ovulation in women with ovulatory problems

“…Depending on the reasons for infertility, several different types of treatment are available for infertile women (Barbonetti et al, 2018; Elizur & Tulandi, 2008; Gutarra‐Vilchez et al, 2018; Stevenson, Hershberger, & Bergh, 2016). Fertility drugs as an important part of treatment work like the natural hormones to treat infertility (Daniluk & Fluker, 1995; Gibson & Myers, 2000; Usadi & Merriam, 2015; Westfall, 2017; Xia, Inagaki, Zhang, Wang, & Song, 2017). However, any drug that harms to the oocytes, cumulus cells, and the ovary can influence the processes of oogenesis, egg maturation, and ovulation (Dumesic, Meldrum, Katz‐Jaffe, Krisher, & Schoolcraft, 2015; Zhao, Feng, Jiang, & Lu, 2017).…”

Chinese herbal decoction of Wenshen Yangxue formula improved fertility and pregnancy rate in mice through PI3K/Akt signaling

“…Phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase (PI3K) is a vital integrator of metabolism and neuron, and is an important mediator which is common to peripheral metabolic cues, including leptin, insulin, and insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1), and gonadal steroid hormones . In some papers, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and PI3K signaling had been reported to be associated with secretion of hormones, including sexual hormones, stress hormones as well as kisspeptin and GnRH, which is a potent LH secretion stimulator . It was reported that the inactivated peripheral factors insulin and leptin in patients with anorexia nervosa contributes to reduced GnRH and LH activity, and the administration of leptin improved LH level and ovulation .…”