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Electroacupuncture reduces HbA1c, androgen levels in women with PCOS
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Among women with polycystic ovary syndrome and overweight or obesity, 5 weeks of electroacupuncture therapy resulted in decreases in HbA1c and androgen levels, in part by activating adipose tissue sympathetic activity, according to recent findings.
“The decrease in HbA1c is equivalent to [that resulting from] unsupervised exercise in persons with impaired glucose tolerance,” Elisabet Stener-Victorin, PhD, senior lecturer and researcher in the department of physiology and pharmacology at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues wrote. “Remarkably, the changes observed in our study occurred with no changes in body weight or waist circumference.”
Stener-Victorin and colleagues analyzed data from 17 women with PCOS and a BMI of at least 25 kg/m², aged 18 to 38 years. Participants underwent electroacupuncture three times per week for 5 weeks. Primary outcome was change in whole-body glucose homeostasis, measured by
hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp before and after the intervention; secondary outcomes
were changes in HbA1c, circulating catecholamines, adipocyte size and adipose tissue expression of sex steroids and nerve growth factor.
After 5 weeks of acupuncture therapy, the women did not experience a measurable change in glucose homeostasis, but HbA1c decreased by a mean of 9.5% (P = .004), and insulin resistance, as measured by homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and C-peptide index, showed decreasing trends after 5 weeks of treatment (P = .051 for both).
Researchers found that circulating testosterone decreased by a mean of 22% (P = .0007); dihydrotestosterone decreased by a mean of 12% after 5 weeks of electroacupuncture (P = .007). Plasma serotonin and the dopamine metabolite homovanillic acid, both markers of vagal activity, decreased after the intervention by a mean of 21% (P = .027) and 20% (P = .011), respectively.
Adipose tissue concentrations of testosterone decreased by a mean of 18% (P = .049), and androstenedione decreased by a mean of 13% (P = .035). The mature nerve growth factor/pro-nerve growth factor ratio, a marker of sympathetic activity, also increased (P = 0.04), according to researchers. There were no changes in body weight after the intervention.
“The novelty of the present study is that we measured subcutaneous adipose tissue sex
steroid concentrations with the highly sensitive and specific [gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry] method, and we found that androstenedione and testosterone concentrations were significantly lower after 5 weeks of treatment, mimicking the decrease in circulating androgens,” the researchers wrote. “The reduction of both circulating and adipose tissue concentrations of androgens by electroacupuncture might indicate decreased production of ovarian testosterone, which, in turn, decreases subcutaneous adipose tissue concentrations and reflects the modulation of sex steroid-inactivating enzymes in adipose tissue. These assumptions require further investigation.”
The researchers have initiated a randomized controlled study to explore the findings in a larger cohort. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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