Acupuncture-assisted embryo transfer techniques: Research frontiers and future directions

Table 2 Basic information of included fundamental researches

Nature of acupuncture	Number of participants (intervention/control)	Age (intervention/control)	Control	Acupuncture points	Time of acupuncture/frequencies/cycles	Outcomes	Ref.
TA	40 (20/20)	32.65/31.20	No adjuvant treatment	LR3, SP6, CV4, SP10, ST36	30 minutes/2 days/between the time of menstruation and the simulated transplantation day	Endometrial thickness, ndometrial typing, Pulsatility index, Resistance index, Peak systolic velocity/diastolic velocity, expression of endometrial receptor-related factors, expression of key molecules and gene expression of the AMP-activated protein kinase/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway, CPR, embryo implantation rate	Qi et al[13]
TA	12 (6/6)	31/27.5	No adjuvant treatment	CV4, ST36, SP6, BL23, BL32	30 minutes/2 days/two menstrual cycles during in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer	CPR, endometrium thickness, identification, functional analysis and validation of differentially expressed genes, competing endogenous RNA network	Cheng et al[14]
TA	62 (20/20/22 in the young control group)	37.70/37.27/29.83	Routine ovulation induction combined with sham acupuncture	RN4, SP6, EX-CA1	30 minutes/3 times a week until the day of human chorionic gonadotropin injection	The score of kidney qi deficiency syndrome, the 2 pronuclei fertilization rate, HQER and CPR	Xia et al[8]
EA	76 (38/38)	28.4/29.2	Pseudo-acupuncture	RN12, ST25, SP15, GB26, CV6, CV4, SP10, ST40, ST36, SP9	25 minutes/twice a week until the day of oocyte collection/3 menstrual cycles	The phlegm-dampness syndrome. Score, the index of rigidity scores, the number of oocytes retrieved, CPR, transplantable embryo rate;, HQER, live birth rate, expression of insulin receptor substrate-1, PI3K and GLUT4 mRNA	Xiang et al[15]
EA	66 (33/33)	31.76/33.73	Placebo needle puncture	CV3, CV6, ST29, SP6, LI4/Th12–L2, S2–S4	25 minutes duration/2days/3 menstrual cycles	CPR, oocyte retrieval, Fertilization, HQER, expression of PI3K, protein kinase B, Forkhead box o3 mRNA	Wu et al[16]

CPR: Clinical pregnancy rates; EA: Electroacupuncture; HQER: High-quality embryo rate; PI3K: Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase; TA: Traditional acupuncture.