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Status unknownNCT06145061Updated Nov 22, 2023

Evaluation on Biological Characteristics of Acupoints in Premature Ovarian Insufficiency

An observational study in Premature Ovarian Insufficiency, sponsored by Xiaomei Shao. Status unknown at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 40 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-11-22.

Sponsored by Xiaomei Shao · Observational

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Nov 2023), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Study type
Observational
Model
Case-control
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrollment
150
Ages
18 Years to 40 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of Premature Ovarian Insufficiency(POI), but the selection of acupoints is indeterminate and lacks biological basis.In recent years,some studies suggested the "acupoint sensitization",that is,changes such as pain sensitivity and heat sensitivity appear on the acupoints under disease state.The biological characteristics of acupoints can reflect the state of local tissue and might be a potential factor for guiding acupoint selection. This study aims to compare the temperature and pain threshold of acupoints between POI patients and the healthy population.At the meantime,clinical diagnosis of POI is based on clinical symptoms and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH).However,FSH fluctuates so much that prediction accuracy is not high and clinical application is limited.Therefore, given the lack of proper diagnostic accuracy in POI and the concept of "acupoint sensitization",it is necessary to summarize the changes of biological characteristics of related acupoints under physiological and pathological conditions as an auxiliary means to improve the diagnostic rate of POI.

Read the detailed description

The study is a case-control study protocol involving 150 POI patients from three clinical centers and 150 healthy persons in China.The duration of the study is one year, and all patients and healthy people will receive at least 3 infrared thermal imaging examinations of acupoints and pain threshold examinations.The primary outcome is to investigate the difference in the skin temperature and pain threshold of acupoints between POI and healthy persons.In the meanwhile,we will collect FSH, serum estradiol (E2) and some relevant scales,including modified Kupperman Index,Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS),Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS),Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) constitution scale as second outcomes.

02

Conditions studied

  • Premature Ovarian Insufficiency

Keywords

  • Acupuncture
  • Biological Characteristics of Acupoint Representation
  • infrared thermal imaging
  • pain threshold testing
03

In context

Primary Ovarian Insufficiency

175 studies on the registry are indexed under Primary Ovarian Insufficiency; 45 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 150 is above the median of 100 across 61 observational studies indexed under Primary Ovarian Insufficiency.

Browse Primary Ovarian Insufficiency studies →

Lead sponsor

Xiaomei Shao is the lead sponsor of 8 studies on the registry; 3 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 40 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes
Sampling method
Non-probability sample

Study population

Premature Ovarian Insufficiency refers to the clinical symptoms of ovarian dysfunction in women before the age of 40, mainly manifested as abnormal menstruation,elevated gonadotropin levels and fluctuating decline in estrogen levels.Currently,POI is diagnosed clinically in patients \<40 years of age with abnormal menstruation (amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea>4 months) and FSH>25U/L (two consecutive measurements more than 4 weeks apart).However,FSH fluctuates so much that prediction accuracy is not high and clinical application is limited.The global incidence of POI is 1%,and it is about 2.8% in China.In the long run, POI patients face various health risks, such as increased incidence of cardiovascular diseases, bone and joint diseases, genitourinary diseases, psychological diseases,etc.,and may even lead to shortened life expectancy, which seriously endangers women's physical, psychological and social aspects.

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

- POI patient inclusion criteria:1.meet the diagnostic criteria for POI:POI diagnostic criteria refer to the 2016 European Society for Reproductive Medicine POI guidelines:Age \< 40 years; Oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea for at least 4 months; Two measurements (on day 2-4 of the menstrual cycle, at least 4 weeks apart)Follicle Stimulating Hormone(FSH) > 25 IU/L and meet the above three requirements.

2.18 years old ≤ age \< 40 years old, gender female; 3.They are conscious and able to communicate normally. 4.Provide recent transvaginal ultrasound or pelvic color Doppler ultrasound examination report to determine the menstrual cycle.

5.Those who understand and are willing to comply with the study protocol and sign the informed consent form.

Healthy volunteers inclusion criteria:1.Healthy subjects who can provide physical examination report within the past 1 year and have routine physical examination by the investigator, and confirm that they have no serious underlying diseases such as reproductive system, urinary system, blood, endocrine system and nervous system;2.Currently no symptoms of oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea;3.18 years ≤ age \< 40 years, female;4.Those who understand and are willing to comply with the study protocol and sign the informed consent form.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

- POI patient exclusion criteria:Patients who met any of the following criteria were excluded:1.low response or no response to exogenous gonadotropin, congenital reproductive tract dysplasia;2.Subjects who are pregnant or lactating;3.Patients with abnormal body temperature were found before detection;4.patients with mental illness, severe depression, alcohol dependence, history of drug abuse or serious primary diseases such as cardiovascular, liver, kidney and hematopoietic system; 5.Patients who do not cooperate with the study protocol of this study

Healthy volunteers exclusion criteria:volunteers who met any of the following criteria were excluded:1.mentally ill patients, patients with severe depression, alcohol dependence or those with a history of drug abuse;2.Subjects who are pregnant or lactating;3.volunteers with abnormal body temperature before testing;4.Those who do not cooperate with the study protocol of this study

05

Study design

Observational model
Case-control
Time perspective
Retrospective
Enrollment
150 participants (estimated)
Patient registry
No

Groups and cohorts

  • POI patients

    POI patients:1.meet the diagnostic criteria for POI:POI diagnostic criteria refer to the 2016 European Society for Reproductive Medicine POI guidelines:Age \< 40 years; Oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea for at least 4 months; Two measurements (on day 2-4 of the menstrual cycle, at least 4 weeks apart)Follicle Stimulating Hormone(FSH) \> 25 IU/L and meet the above three requirements.2.18 years old ≤ age \< 40 years old, gender female; 3.They are conscious and able to communicate normally.4.Provide recent transvaginal ultrasound or pelvic color Doppler ultrasound examination report to determine the menstrual cycle.5.Those who understand and are willing to comply with the study protocol and sign the informed consent form.

    Device: all patients and healthy people will receive at least 3 infrared thermal imaging examinations of acupoints and pain threshold examinations of acupoints.

  • healthy subjects

    Healthy subjects:1.Healthy subjects who can provide physical examination report within the past 1 year and have routine physical examination by the investigator, and confirm that they have no serious underlying diseases such as reproductive system, urinary system, blood, endocrine system and nervous system;2.Currently no symptoms of oligomenorrhea or amenorrhea;3.18 years ≤ age \< 40 years, female;4.Those who understand and are willing to comply with the study protocol and sign the informed consent form.

    Device: all patients and healthy people will receive at least 3 infrared thermal imaging examinations of acupoints and pain threshold examinations of acupoints.

Interventions

  • Deviceall patients and healthy people will receive at least 3 infrared thermal imaging examinations of acupoints and pain threshold examinations of acupoints.

    Infrared thermal imaging detection scheme of acupoints:Detection equipment NEC R550 infrared thermal imager.Records the corresponding acupoints coordinates,and starts to collect the infrared thermal image.and 6 images will be taken continuously for each detected part.The infrared thermograms were stored and extract the temperature values of the corresponding coordinates of the acupoints.The average temperature values of the acupoints in the six infrared thermograms were calculated as their temperatures.Pain threshold detection scheme of acupoints:The instrument and equipment use the FDX25 hand-held pain threshold test instrument to explore the acupoints.Place the probe of the pain measuring instrument vertically on the pain measuring acupoint, slowly and steadily press downward at a constant speed, and stop pressing immediately when the subject begins to feel pain. At this point, the reading on the display is the subject's pain threshold. All acupoints shall be measured once in total.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The difference in the temperature and pain threshold of acupoints between POI and healthy populations

    The primary objective of this study is to investigate the difference in the temperature and pain threshold of acupoints between POI and healthy populations.

    Time frame: Baseline,6 months after,12 months after.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Modified Kupperman

    The modified Kupperman Index consists of 13 items . In addition to the same 11 items included in the original Index,the modified version adds urogenital symptoms, including urinary infection and sexual complaints. The original 11 items included sweating/hot flushes, palpitation, vertigo, headache, paresthesia, formication, arthralgia, and myalgia (categorized as somatic symptoms), and fatigue, nervousness, and melancholia categorized as psychological symptoms. A scale ranging from 0 to 3 points is used to describe the severity of the complaints. The weighting factors were the same as those used in the original KI, and provide two points for both urogenital symptoms. The total score ranges from 0 to 63, calculated as the sum of all items by the weighting factor. Scores ranging from 0-6, 7-15, 16-30, and \>30 were used to rate the degree of severity as none, mild, moderate, and severe, respectively.

    Time frame: Baseline,6 months after,12 months after.

  2. Zung's Self-Rating Anxiety Scale(SAS)

    The SAS is used to assess the subjective feelings of patients with anxiety. SAS has good psychometric credentials, and it is suitable for all types of psychiatric disorders in which anxiety symptoms are predominant. There are 20 items on a four-point scale, and higher scores indicate greater anxiety.SAS has good psychometric credentials and can assist in the assessment of patients' anxiety status.

    Time frame: Baseline,6 months after,12 months after.

  3. Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS)

    The SDS can reflect the depressive state and its variability well (Zung, 1965). The scale contains 20 items scored on a 4-point scale. The rough scores were obtained by summing each of the 20 new items, multiplying the rough scores by 1.25, and then taking the integer part as the standard score. A standard score of 50-59 is considered to be a mild depressive mood, a standard score of 60-69 is considered to be moderate depression, and a standard score of more than 70 is considered to be severe depression. Patients respond according to their situation in the past week.

    Time frame: Baseline,6 months after,12 months after.

  4. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) constitution scale

    TCM constitution scale is Prepared by Professor Wang Qi of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, in order to evaluate peoplr's TCM constitution.Constitution classification is the basis and core content of TCM constitution research, which is to extract the relevant laws from the complex constitution phenomenon and finally build the constitution classification system.There are 9 items and 66 small items in the TCM constitution scale, which are required to be filled in according to the real situation in the last year. The results of the scale include nine constitutions: mild constitution, qi deficiency constitution, qi depression constitution, yin deficiency constitution, yang deficiency constitution, blood stasis constitution, special constitution, phlegm-dampness constitution and damp-heat constitution.

    Time frame: Baseline,6 months after,12 months after.

  5. Follicle Stimulating Hormone

    Clinical diagnosis of POI is based on clinical symptoms and Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH).However,FSH fluctuates so much that prediction accuracy is not high and clinical application is limited

    Time frame: Baseline,6 months after,12 months after.

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • the Third affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical university
    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
    Recruiting
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Nov 22, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06145061
Lead sponsor
Xiaomei Shao
Responsible party
Xiaomei Shao (Professor, The Third Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Nov 22, 2023
Start date
Mar 1, 2023
Primary completion
Mar 30, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 30, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 22, 2023

Study contacts

Xiaomei Shao, Ph.D
Contact
shaoxiaomei@zcmu.edu.cn
+8618957130287
Haomin Sun
Contact
295783018@qq.com
+8615990031347
Xiaomei Shao, Ph.D
principal investigator · The Third Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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