A Trial of Personalized Acupuncture, Fixed Acupuncture, Letrozole and Placebo on Live Birth in Women With PCOS
NCT ID: NCT03625531
Last Updated: 2022-04-05
Study Results
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Basic Information
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UNKNOWN
PHASE3
1100 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2018-08-13
2024-01-31
Brief Summary
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Detailed Description
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Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
TREATMENT
TRIPLE
Study Groups
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Personalized acupuncture
Two sets of acupoints will be selected for the two types. The basic acupoint-prescription includes CV 4, CV 6, CV 12 and SP 6 bilaterally, ST 25 bilaterally, EX-CA 1 bilaterally, ST 40 bilaterally and SP 9 bilaterally. Additional point ST 36 bilaterally and moxibustion as adjuvant therapy will be added for the type of yang deficiency of spleen and kidney, while additional points K 13, LR 3 for the type of yin deficiency of liver and kidney. Besides, flexible modifications of 2-3 acupoints will be performed according to patients special symptoms.
Acupuncture
Women in both personalized and fixed acupuncture groups will receive acupuncture treatment three times a week. Acupuncture treatment will start on day 3 after a spontaneous period or after a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. Each treatment session will last for 30-60 minutes, with a maximum of 48 treatment sessions over 16 weeks. If they become pregnant, the acupuncture treatment will be stopped. For personalized and fixed acupuncture group, credibility and expectancy questionnaires will be completed on the third acupuncture treatment and the last acupuncture treatment.
Fixed acupuncture
Two sets of acupuncture points will be alternated every second treatment. The first set consists of CV 3, CV 6, ST 29 bilaterally, SP 6 bilaterally, SP 9 bilaterally, GV 20 and LI 4 bilaterally. The second set consists of 13 needles: ST 25 bilaterally, ST 29 bilaterally, CV 3, CV 6, SP 6 bilaterally, LR 3 bilaterally, PC 6 bilaterally and GV 20. The following points will be connected to an electrical stimulator: ST 25 bilaterally, ST 29 bilaterally, SP 6 bilaterally, LR 3 bilaterally.
Acupuncture
Women in both personalized and fixed acupuncture groups will receive acupuncture treatment three times a week. Acupuncture treatment will start on day 3 after a spontaneous period or after a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. Each treatment session will last for 30-60 minutes, with a maximum of 48 treatment sessions over 16 weeks. If they become pregnant, the acupuncture treatment will be stopped. For personalized and fixed acupuncture group, credibility and expectancy questionnaires will be completed on the third acupuncture treatment and the last acupuncture treatment.
Letrozole
Women in the letrozole group will be given letrozole (Femara, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Basel, Switzerland) from day 3 to day 7 of the spontaneous menstrual cycle or after a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. The maximum daily dose of letrozole will be 7.5 mg (3 pills) daily for five days.
Letrozole
Letrozole will be started on day 3 to day 7 of the spontaneous period or a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. If there is response with ovulation, this dose will be maintained. In those with no ovulatory response, letrozole tablets of the next ovulation cycle will be take on the day 28 of the menstrual cycle and the letrozole dose will be increased to 5 mg (2 pills) a day for 5 days. If there is still no response, the dose will be increased to 7.5 mg per day for 5 days in the next cycle. The maximum daily dose of letrozole will be 7.5 mg (3 pills) daily for five days.
Placebo letrozole
Women will receive placebo letrozole with no acupuncture from day 3 to day 7 of the spontaneous menstrual cycle or after a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. Placebo letrozole will be given in the same way as letrozole.
Placebo letrozole
Placebo letrozole will be given in the same way as letrozole. Women will receive 1 tablet a day of placebo letrozole from the day 3 to day 7 of the menstrual cycle and placebo letrozole dose will be increased 2 tablets a day in the next cycle if there is no response. The maximum daily dose of placebo letrozole will be 3 tablets daily for five days.
Interventions
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Acupuncture
Women in both personalized and fixed acupuncture groups will receive acupuncture treatment three times a week. Acupuncture treatment will start on day 3 after a spontaneous period or after a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. Each treatment session will last for 30-60 minutes, with a maximum of 48 treatment sessions over 16 weeks. If they become pregnant, the acupuncture treatment will be stopped. For personalized and fixed acupuncture group, credibility and expectancy questionnaires will be completed on the third acupuncture treatment and the last acupuncture treatment.
Letrozole
Letrozole will be started on day 3 to day 7 of the spontaneous period or a withdrawal bleeding following progestin. If there is response with ovulation, this dose will be maintained. In those with no ovulatory response, letrozole tablets of the next ovulation cycle will be take on the day 28 of the menstrual cycle and the letrozole dose will be increased to 5 mg (2 pills) a day for 5 days. If there is still no response, the dose will be increased to 7.5 mg per day for 5 days in the next cycle. The maximum daily dose of letrozole will be 7.5 mg (3 pills) daily for five days.
Placebo letrozole
Placebo letrozole will be given in the same way as letrozole. Women will receive 1 tablet a day of placebo letrozole from the day 3 to day 7 of the menstrual cycle and placebo letrozole dose will be increased 2 tablets a day in the next cycle if there is no response. The maximum daily dose of placebo letrozole will be 3 tablets daily for five days.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
2. Chronic oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea: oligomenorrhea is defined as an intermenstrual interval \> 35 days or \< 8 menstrual bleedings in the past year. Amenorrhea is defined as an intermenstrual interval \>90 days.
3. Hyperandrogenism (either hirsutism or hyperandrogenemia) or polycystic ovaries on ultrasound. Hirsutism is determined by a modified Ferriman-Gallwey Score ≥ 5 at screening examination, and biochemical hyperandrogenism is defined as total testosterone (T) \> 2.6 nmol/L and free testosterone ≥ 6.0 pg/mL. Polycystic ovaries are present when there are ≥ 12 antral follicles (2 - 9 mm) or ovarian volume \> 10 mL on transvaginal scanning.
4. At least one patent tube shown by hysterosalpingogram or diagnostic laparoscopy within 3 years if the patient does not have a history of abortion or pelvic operation. If the patient has a history of pregnancy and no history of pelvic operation within the past 5 years, she is not required to undergo a tubal patency test.
5. Sperm concentration ⩾ 15 × 106/mL and total motility ⩾ 40% or total motile sperm count ⩾ 9 million in the semen analysis of the husband. Agree to have regular intercourse i.e. 2-3 times per week during the study period.
Exclusion Criteria
2. Use of other TCM treatments including Chinese herbal prescriptions and acupuncture in the past 3 months.
3. Use of other western medications known to affect reproductive function or metabolism in the past 2 months.
4. Pregnancy within the past 6 weeks.
5. Within 6 weeks postabortion or postpartum.
6. Breastfeeding within the last 6 months.
7. Not willing to give written consent to the study.
1. Patients taking other medications known to affect reproductive function or metabolism. These medications include oral contraceptives, depot progestins, hormonal implants (including Implanon), GnRH agonists and antagonists, antiandrogens, gonadotropins, antiobesity drugs, antidiabetic drugs such as metformin and thiazolidinediones, somatostatin, diazoxide, angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers. The washout period on these medicationswill be two months, longer washouts may be necessary for certain depot contraceptive forms or implants, especially where the implants are still in place. A one-month washout will be required for patients on depot progestins.
2. Patients with liver disease defined as AST or ALT \> 2 times normal or total bilirubin \> 2.5 mg/dL. Patients with renal disease defined as BUN \> 30 mg/dL or serum creatinine \> 1.4 mg/dL.
3. Patients with hemoglobin \< 10 g/dL.
4. Patients with a history of deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, or cerebrovascular accident.
5. Patients with known heart disease that is likely to be exacerbated by pregnancy.
6. Patients with a history of, or suspected cervical carcinoma, endometrial carcinoma, or breast carcinoma. A normal Pap smear result will be required for women 21 and over.
7. Patients with a current history of alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is defined as \>14 drinks/week or binge drinking.
8. Patients enrolled into other investigative studies that require medications, prescribe the study medications, limit intercourse, or otherwise prevent compliance with the protocol.
9. Patients who anticipate taking longer than a one-month break during the protocol should not be enrolled.
10. Patients with a suspected adrenal or ovarian tumor secreting androgens.
11. Couples with previous sterilization procedures (vasectomy, tubal ligation), which have been reversed. The prior procedure may affect study outcomes, and patients with both a reversed sterilization procedure and PCOS are rare enough that exclusion should not adversely affect recruitment.
12. Subjects who have undergone a bariatric surgery procedure in the recent past (\< 12 months) and are in a period of acute weight loss or have been advised against pregnancy by their bariatric surgeon.
13. Patients with untreated poorly controlled hypertension defined as a systolic blood pressure 160 mmHg or a diastolic 100 mm Hg obtained on two measures obtained at least 60 minutes apart.
14. Patients with known congenital adrenal hyperplasia.
20 Years
40 Years
FEMALE
No
Sponsors
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Hongxia Ma
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Hongxia Ma
professor
Principal Investigators
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Hongxia HX Ma, Dorctor
Role: STUDY_CHAIR
The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University
Locations
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The first affiliated hospital of Guangzhou Medical University
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
Countries
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Central Contacts
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Facility Contacts
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Hongxia HX Ma, Dorctor
Role: primary
References
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Other Identifiers
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PPCOSAct
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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