Acupuncture point injection treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea: a randomised, double blind, controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if injection of vitamin K3 in an acupuncture point is optimal for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea, when compared with 2 other injection treatments. SETTING: A Menstrual Disorder Centre at a public hospital in Shanghai, China. PARTICIPANTS: Chinese women aged 14-25 years with severe primary dysmenorrhoea for at least 6 months not relieved by any other treatment were recruited. Exclusion criteria were the use of oral contraceptives, intrauterine devices or anticoagulant drugs, pregnancy, history of abdominal surgery, participation in other therapies for pain and diagnosis of secondary dysmenorrhoea. Eighty patients with primary dysmenorrhoea, as defined on a 4-grade scale, completed the study. Two patients withdrew after randomisation. INTERVENTIONS: A double-blind, double-dummy, randomised controlled trial compared vitamin K3 acupuncture point injection to saline acupuncture point injection and vitamin K3 deep muscle injection. Patients in each group received 3 injections at a single treatment visit. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the difference in subjective perception of pain as measured by an 11 unit Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Secondary measurements were Cox Pain Intensity and Duration scales and the consumption of analgesic tablets before and after treatment and during 6 following cycles. RESULTS: Patients in all 3 groups experienced pain relief from the injection treatments. Differences in NRS measured mean pain scores between the 2 active control groups were less than 1 unit (-0.71, CI -1.37 to -0.05) and not significant, but the differences in average scores between the treatment hypothesised to be optimal and both active control groups (1.11, CI 0.45 to 1.78) and (1.82, CI 1.45 to 2.49) were statistically significant in adjusted mixed-effects models. Menstrual distress and use of analgesics were diminished for 6 months post-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture point injection of vitamin K3 relieves menstrual pain rapidly and is a useful treatment in an urban outpatient clinic. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT00104546; Results.

[Experimental study of effect on tonifying kidney herbs in pituitary ovary adrenal gland of androgen sterilized rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of tonifying Kidney herbs (TKH) in pituitary, ovary, adrenal gland of androgen sterilized rats(ASR). METHODS: ASR model was established by injecting testosterone propionate subcutaneously to SD female rats of 9 days age. Morphological and hormonal change of pituitary, ovary and adrenal gland in rats of 100-107 days old before and after feeding TKH extract were observed by light and electron microscope, cell culture immunohistochemical studies and radioimmuno-assay. RESULTS: In the ASR groups, there were intracytopiasmic lipid drops, autophagy, vacuole, granulolysis of pituitary gland. There were anovulation apparently and increased the amount of lipid drops in cytoplasm of interstitial glandular cell of ovary. The fatty drops of the reticular zone of adrenal gland decreased, the numbers of AGNOR (P < 0.01) and PCNA (P < 0.01) increased significantly. The levels of FSH, LH (P < 0.05-0.005) lowered, but the levels of DHA, T (P < 0.01, 0.05, 0.001) were raised significantly. Morphological and hormonal change of all RSA returned to normal range after the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The hyperandrogenemia were disturbed by the function of sex gland axis and adrenal in female rats of 9 days old and played an important role in pathogenesis of ASR, the TKH reduced the levels of androgen and induced ovulation through sex gland axis and adrenal level and multi-organ regulation.

[Effect of traditional Chinese medicine treatment on levels of blocking antibody, beta-hCG, progesterone and estradiol in spontaneous abortion].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on abnormal maternal-fetal immune and endocrine in 24 cases of threatened abortion (TA) and 68 cases of recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA). METHODS: The levels of blocking effect (BE), antiidiotype antibody (AIA), cytotoxin antibody (CTA), beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG), progesterone (P), estradiol (E2) were measured in all 92 patients. RESULTS: Incidence rates of the lack of BE, AIA and CTA in 92 cases were 60.87%, 57.61% and 72.83% respectively. The lower levels of BE, AIA and CTA were elevated significantly (P < 0.05-0.01), and the serial levels of beta-hCG, P and E2 were markedly increasing (P < 0.01) in all successful pregnant patients. The rate of the successful pregnancy of 92 cases was 89.13% (to TA 91.67%, to RSA 88.24% respectively). CONCLUSIONS: It suggests that the lack of blocking antibody (BA) and endocrine hormone deficiency may result in spontaneous abortion during early pregnancy. The therapeutic mechanism of those herbs in treating spontaneous abortion was associated with the growing levels of BA and hormone by regulating the maternal-fetal immunity and endocrine.

[Follicular development patterns in infertile women with biphasic basal body temperature].

Seventy-one cases of infertile women with both normal menstrual cycle and biphasic BBT were studied with ultrasonography, laparoscopy, hormonal assay and endometrial histology. Signs for follicular development and ovulation were divided into four types: (1) normal ovulation in 12 cases; (2) ovulation of small follicle in 21 cases; (3) luteinized unruptured follicle in 15 cases; (4) small luteinized follicle in 23 cases. Mean serum progesterone levels in the luteal phase were within normal limits in all cases. Secretory endometrium accounted for 77.46%. Proliferative or hyperplastic endometrium accounted for 22.54%. The Authors conclude that the criteria of biphasic BBT, P levels and endometrial histology are not reliable enough for determine the cause of female infertility women. In this study the rate of salpingitis: and the rate of aberration of follicular development and chronic anovulation was 7.04%, 83.10% respectively. The latter played an important role in causing female infertility.