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Can tiny acupuncture needles boost fertility in women with low egg supply?

NCT ID NCT05277948

Disease control Sponsor: Dongmei Huang Source: ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed This study
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 02, 2026 · Updated 2 times

Summary

This study tested whether thumbtack needle acupuncture can improve ovarian function in 240 women aged 18-40 with diminished ovarian reserve (low egg supply). Participants received acupuncture at specific points for up to 4 weeks. The main goals were to see changes in anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels and antral follicle count (AFC), which are markers of egg reserve. The results could point to a simple, needle-based way to support fertility.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
thumbtack needle acupuncture (with electro-thumbtack needle on some points)
What this could lead to
If it works, this could offer a non-drug option to improve egg quality and fertility chances in women with low ovarian reserve.
What could go wrong
This is a small, early-stage trial with no phase. The treatment is acupuncture, so any benefit may be due to placebo. Results may not apply to all women.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Not a phased trial

Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.

Participants

240 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Oct 2021

Finished

Dec 2025

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 to 40 years

Sex

Female participants only

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with age between 18 and 40 years; * Low ovarian reserve: AMH\<1.1ng/ml; or AFC\<7; or 10 U/L\<FSH\<25U/L or FSH/LH\>3.6; or has a history of poor ovarian response, that is, in the last controlled hyperstimulation cycle, the number of retrieved oocytes\<3. Any 2 of the above 4 conditions are met. * Sign informed consent voluntarily. Exclusion Criteria: * Patient's chromosome is abnormal. * Patients with previous ovarian surgery because of such as ovarian teratoma or chocolate cyst and so on. * Patients with uncorrected endocrine disease, such as: Simple hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, hyperprolactinemia, insulin resistance, diabetes, adrenal diseases, etc. * Patients with definitively diagnosed autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, antiphospholipid syndrome, Sjogren's syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis. * Patients with a history of cancer and has received radiotherapy or chemotherapy. * Patients had the treatment of acupuncture or thumbtack needle in recent 3 months. * Patients who take Chinese medicine decoction or granule during the treatment; * Patients unwilling to sign the informed consent of this study.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

ovarian dysfunction

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Diminished ovarian reserve

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology

    Wuhan, Hubei, 430030, China

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