Poor Ovarian Response

Presentation Slides

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Randomised Controlled Trial

Acupuncture does not notably enhance the number of oocytes retrieved in patients with poor ovarian response, but it influences embryo cleavage rates and basal FSH levels.

2026 Frontiers in Endocrinology Effect of acupuncture for poor ovarian response: a multicenter randomized controlled trial
Su C, Wang X, Liu X, Yang L, Su T, Wang H, Li Y, Zhao C, Zhang C, Xiang W, Tong G, Chen L, Zhao F, Xu H, Fang Y

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Clinical Study

Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) shows promise as a more effective acupuncture type for improving pregnancy outcomes in patients with poor ovarian response.

2026 Medicine Acupuncture in patients with the poor ovarian response on IVF-ET: A systematic review and network meta-analysis
Liu J, Mai T, Zhu F, Ma J, Liu D, Liu Y, Ouyang X, Wu J

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Acupuncture significantly enhances the rate and quality of embryos in patients with poor ovarian response undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation.

2025 African Journal of Reproductive Health Randomized clinical trial of acupuncture in patients with poor ovarian response
Yuan R, Zhu X, Liu Y, Wang M, Wang T, Li Z, Wu J

Chinese Medicine Research Hub

Randomised Controlled Trial

Shen Que moxibustion treatment can improve reproductive outcomes in women with unexpected poor ovarian response who meet specific criteria.

2024 Journal of Ovarian Research Efficacy and safety of Shen Que (RN8) moxibustion on reproductive outcomes in unexpected poor ovarian responders: a randomized controlled trial
Song JY, Sun ZG, Ma YX

Executive Summary

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Research into Chinese medicine treatment for Poor Ovarian Response" summarising the research below and using language that can be easily understood by patients and avoiding medical jargon using a professional and caring tone of voice.

Write an executive summary in the form of a blog article on the topic of "Researched Chinese medicine treatments for Poor Ovarian Response" summarising the research below in an objective and easy to understand way, and using language that can be easily understood by patients. Group the article into Chinese medicine treatments first, followed by nutrition and other treatments. Avoid using medical jargon and use a professional and caring tone of voice.

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A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2026 in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology found that Acupuncture does not notably enhance the number of oocytes retrieved in patients with poor ovarian response, but it influences embryo cleavage rates and basal FSH levels. This research was a multi-institutional, randomized study organized across nine tertiary hospitals in China from August 2018 to March 2024. The study included 140 women aged 40 or under that met the Bologna criteria and were fit for the antagonist ovulation induction protocol. These women were divided randomly into one group who received 36 acupuncture sessions before controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, and a control group treated with in-vitro fertilization only. The primary objective was to compare the number of oocytes retrieved between the two groups while secondary outcomes included the study of embryological parameters, markers of ovarian reserve, clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate. Discussion on the results shows that the number of oocytes extracted was not notably different between the acupuncture group and the control group. The minor differences observed may not necessarily be clinically significant. However, the acupuncture group showed a higher embryo cleavage rate and lowered levels of basal follicle-stimulating hormone compared to the control group, suggesting that acupuncture could have some influence, although it did not enhance the rates of clinical pregnancies or live births significantly. No severe adverse events were reported during the study.

A Clinical Study published in 2026 in the journal Medicine found that Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) shows promise as a more effective acupuncture type for improving pregnancy outcomes in patients with poor ovarian response. In this study, eight databases were searched until September 10, 2023, to include randomized controlled trials that used TEAS, manual acupuncture (MA), or electroacupuncture (EA) as methods before in-vitro fertilization and embryo transplantation, aiming to improve pregnancy outcomes in patients with poor ovarian response. Traditional controlled ovarian stimulation protocols were used in the control group, and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment Tool was employed to evaluate the methodological quality of the incorporated studies. Summary statistics were generated using the surfaces under the cumulative ranking curves. The analysis included fifteen randomized controlled trials, encompassing 1195 women, in a network meta-analysis. The results revealed that TEAS significantly outperformed EA, MA, and the control group in increasing the number of oocytes and antral follicle count. It's notable that manual acupuncture demonstrated a greater increase in the number of mature oocytes compared to the control group. However, the effects of the other treatments didn't show substantial differences when the contrasting groups were analyzed. The evidence currently suggests that using acupuncture as a precursor to in-vitro fertilization brings positive effects and a high safety profile in enhancing pregnancy outcomes in patients with poor ovarian responses, with TEAS appearing to be the most encouraging option.

A published in 2025 in the journal African Journal of Reproductive Health found that Acupuncture significantly enhances the rate and quality of embryos in patients with poor ovarian response undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation. In the methodology of this study, sixty-seven patients with poor ovarian response were chosen and divided randomly into two groups for testing. Group A received a combination of acupuncture and controlled ovarian stimulation, while Group B received only the controlled ovarian stimulation. In the discussion of the results, it was observed that Group A, which received both acupuncture and controlled ovarian stimulation, had a much higher rate of high-quality embryos as well as available embryos compared to Group B. Although the total number of available embryos between the two groups was not significantly different, the study showed that those in Group A had a consistent growing trend when compared to Group B. Altogether, this suggests that incorporating acupuncture into the treatment process serves as a substantial benefit for patients with poor ovarian responses.

A Randomised Controlled Trial published in 2024 in the journal Journal of Ovarian Research found that Shen Que moxibustion treatment can improve reproductive outcomes in women with unexpected poor ovarian response who meet specific criteria. The study was carried out as a randomized, open-label, superiority trial at an academic fertility center. Women who were eligible for in vitro fertilization and met the specific criteria - an antral follicle count greater than or equal to five or anti-müllerian hormone greater than or equal to 1.2ng/ml, and a prior experience of unexpected poor ovarian response were chosen. They were equally divided into two groups: one group underwent Shen Que moxibustion treatment in addition to the IVF treatment, while the other only underwent the IVF treatment. The primary data point was the number of oocytes (egg cells) retrieved. In comparison to the group that only had IVF treatment, the group that had the addition of Shen Que moxibustion treatments saw a significant increase in the number of retrieved oocytes, mature oocytes and available embryos in women over 35 years. This indicates that the Shen Que moxibustion treatment not only increased the quantity of available oocytes, but also their quality as seen in the increased maturity. This group also noticed a higher live birth rate, although the difference with the control group was not significant. Throughout the testing process, no significant adverse effects were recorded.

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