PCOS insulin resistance acupuncture

PCOS can improve with acupuncture treatment. More research looks into the mechanism of it. One of the lead researchers in PCOS and acupuncture Dr Elisabet Stener-Victorin from Sweden has long suspected that acupuncture may play a role in regulating blood glucose levels and helping with insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is one of the features of PCOS. This study put the theory to test.

The study revealed acupuncture increases whole-body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.  See the abstract and a full text of the study below.

E. Stener-Victorin, A. Benrick, M. Kokosar, M. Maliqueo, C. Behre, K. Højlund, A. Sazonova
O-85 Monday, October 20, 2014 06:00 PM
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2014.07.107
Abstract
Impaired glucose regulation, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance (IR) are common features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A single acupuncture treatment increases whole body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in IR PCOS rats. If acupuncture has such an effect in women with PCOS is unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a single acupuncture treatment increase whole body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in women with and without PCOS.

Full text:

Objective
Impaired glucose regulation, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance (IR) are common features of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). A single acupuncture treatment increases whole body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in IR PCOS rats. If acupuncture has such an effect in women with PCOS is unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a single acupuncture treatment increase whole body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in women with and without PCOS.

Design
A prospective experimental study.

Materials and Methods
Twenty-one women with PCOS and 21 controls matched for age, weight and BMI were included. After an overnight fast, a euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp was performed. In brief, insulin was infused (40mU/min/kg) for 120 min to reach steady state glucose infusion rates (GIR). At steady-state, acupuncture needles were placed in the abdominal and quadriceps muscles and below the knee in somatic segments corresponding to the innervation of the ovaries and pancreas. Needles were stimulated by manual rotation every 10 min and by 2 Hz electrical stimulation during 45 min. Clamp continued for 60 min after end of acupuncture. The GIR during the steady-state, during acupuncture (last 20 min) and after end of acupuncture (last 30 min) were used to assess insulin sensitivity (M value). The insulin sensitivity index (M/I value) for each period was also calculated.

Results
The M value was higher during and after acupuncture compared with steady-state in controls and women with PCOS (P < 0.01). The insulin sensitivity index (M/I value), did not increase during acupuncture. After acupuncture the M/I was increased compared with the effect of insulin per se in women with PCOS (P < 0.01), but not in controls. The lack of changes in the M/I value during acupuncture may be explained by increased insulin concentrations during acupuncture which decreased after stimulation in women with PCOS but not controls. There were no differences between cases and controls.

Conclusion
This is the first study to demonstrate that a single acupuncture treatment with combined manual and electrical stimulation of the needles improves whole body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in women with and without PCOS.

Full text: Acupuncture increases whole body glucose uptake during and after stimulation in women with polycystic ovary syndrome