Auricular Acupressure (AA) For Insulin Resistance in Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Effect of Auricular Points Acupressure for Overweight/Obese Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

The present trial is a pilot study to investigate the effect of auricular acupressure on insulin resistance in women with PCOS.A total of 100 subjects will be enrolled into this study and will be randomized into two groups.

Auricular acupressure or sham auricular acupressure will be treated for three months. The primary outcome is the whole body insulin action assessed with HOMA-IR.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women aged between 15 and 40 years.
• Diagnosis of PCOS according to the modified Rotterdam criteria.
• 2 years after menarche.
• Body mass index (BMI) equal to or greater than 23 kg/m2.
• IR is defined by the homeostaticmodel assessment (HOMA-IR: (fasting insulin (μU/mL)×fasting glucose (mmol/L))/22.5). A value ≥2.14 will be considered to be indicative of IR.
• With no desire of children within 3 months.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Administration of other medications known to affect reproductive function or metabolism within the past three months, including oral contraceptives, Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists and antagonists, anti androgens, gonadotropins, anti-obesity drugs, Chinese herbal medicines, anti diabetic drugs such as metformin and thiazolidinediones, somatostatin, diazoxide, and calcium channel blockers.
• Patients with other endocrine disorders including 21-hydroxylase deficiency, hyperprolactinemia, uncorrected thyroid disease, suspected Cushing's syndrome.
• Patients with known severe organ dysfunction or mental illness.