Evaluation on Biological Characteristics of Acupoints in Premature Ovarian Insufficiency

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.

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.