• Qingchang Xia, Lingyu Yu, Jingyan Song, and Zhengao Sun.
• College of Acupuncture and Massage, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, China.
• Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Sep 8; 102 (36): e34768e34768.

BackgroundThe objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of acupuncture on the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in elderly infertile patients with kidney qi deficiency, and to explore its possible mechanism from the perspective of pseudo-targeted metabolomics of follicular fluid.MethodsSixty cases of elderly women undergoing IVF were sampled and randomly divided into 2 equal groups: the treatment and the elderly control (HA) group. In the treatment group, routine ovulation induction combined with acupuncture treatment was used. Routine ovulation induction combined with sham acupuncture was used in the HA group. Reproductive outcomes of the 2 groups were compared. The follicular fluid of patients obtained on the day of oocyte retrieval was analyzed by the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis system.ResultsCompared with the HA group, the score of kidney qi deficiency syndrome in the treatment group was significantly decreased, and the 2 PN fertilization rate, high-quality embryo rate and cumulative pregnancy rate were significantly increased (P < .05). Through the identification of target metabolites, 3 metabolic pathways were found to be closely related to the developmental potential of oocytes, namely: Retinol metabolism pathway; Glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism pathway; Glycerophospholipid metabolism pathway.ConclusionFrom our findings, acupuncture can improve the quality of oocytes thus bettering the outcome of IVF-assisted pregnancy in elderly patients with kidney qi deficiency.Trial RegistrationChiCTR1800018329.Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

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