Study ID Species (Na/Nc) Randomised Weight (g) Model Acupuncture (acupoints) Course of treatment Stimulation parameters The main outcomes Result Stener-Victorin (2003) [18 ] SD rats (8/8) Not reported 195–210 EV Bilateral in the mm biceps femoris and erector spinae, in somatic segments corresponding to the innervation of the ovaries Every second or third day, 25 min, 12 times EA (2 Hz), 1.5 mA Endothelin-1 Mannerås (2008) [19 ] Wistar rats (11/12) Y Not reported DHT ST29, SP6, in somatic segments that correspond to the innervation of the ovaries 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2–3, and 25 min, thereafter, 4–5 weeks EA (2 Hz), 0.8–1.3 mA BW NS Peng (2008) [20 ] Wistar rats (11/12) Y 250 ± 20 TP ST36, ST40, ST25, SP6 30 min a day, 14 days EA (2 Hz) BW Zhang (2008) [21 ] SD rats (14/13) Not reported DHT RN3, RN4, SP6, EX-CA1 15 min, once a day, 6 weeks MA T Zhang (2009)_1 [22 ] SD rats (NR) Not reported DHT RN3, RN4, SP6, EX-CA1 15 min, once a day, 6 weeks MA T Zhang (2009)_2 [23 ] SD rats (11/12) Y Not reported DHEA CV4, CV3, SP6, EX-CA1 15 min a day, 5 days MA T Johansson (2010) [23 ] Wistar rats (11/12) Y 299 ± 6; 287 ± 5 DHT Two needles bilaterally in the abdominal muscles, and two needles were placed in each soleus and gastrocnemius hindlimb muscle, in somatic segments corresponding to ovarian innervations 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 4–5 weeks EA (2 Hz), 0.8–1.4 mA WB NS Feng (2012) [24 ] Wistar rats (8/8/8) Y Not reported DHT Bilaterally in the rectus abdominis and triceps surae muscles at points in somatic segments corresponding to the innervation of the ovaries 15 min in wk 1, 20 min wks 2–3, and 25 min thereafter, 20–25 treatments EA (2 Hz), 0.8–1.4 mA; T NS Li (2012) [25 ] SD rats (9/10) Y 50 ± 10 DHEA BL23, RN6, PC6, ST36, SP6, EX-CA1 30 minutes a day, 6 estrous cycles EA T Not reported Johansson (2013) [26 ] Wistar rats (10/10/10) Y 252.8 ± 12.9; 256.4 ± 15.8; 252.3 ± 23.7 DHT Two needles inserted in the rectus abdominis, and one in triceps surae muscles bilaterally 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 4–5 weeks EA (2 Hz); BW Sun (2013) [27 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 200 ± 20 Letrozole CV4, CV3 20 min a day, 14 consecutive days EA (2 Hz), 2 mA T Benrick (2014) [28 ] Wistar rats (12/12) Y Not reported DHT ST27, ST28, ST29, SP6, SP9 45 min, single session EA (2 Hz), 0.8–1.2 mA; Glucose infusion rate Lai (2014) [29 ] SD rats (8/8) Y Not reported TP + high fat diet RN12, CV4, ST25 30 minutes, 3 times a week, 6 weeks EA (2 Hz) HOMA-IR Chen (2015) [30 ] SD rats (10/10) Y Y Prasterone Sulfate + high fat diet EX-B3, SP6 20 minutes, 5 times a week, 8 weeks EA (2 Hz), 1.5 mA T Maliqueo (2015) [31 ] Wistar rats (10/10) Y Not reported Letrozole Two needles bilaterally in the abdominal muscles, and two needles were placed in each soleus and gastrocnemius hindlimb muscle, in somatic segments (Th 10- L2) corresponding to ovarian innervations 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 5–6 weeks EA (2 Hz), 0.6–1.4 mA; T Zheng (2015) [32 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 45–50 TP + high fat diet (1) CV12, CV4, SP6; (2) ST36, Hou Hui 20 minutes, 5 times a week, 5 weeks, 2 sets of acupoints alternatively EA (2 Hz) T Lai (2016) [33 ] SD rats (10/10) Y Not reported DHEA + high fat diet RN4, RN12, ST25 30 minutes, 3 times a week, 5 weeks EA (2 Hz), 1 mA HOMA-IR Li (2016) [34 ] SD rats (7/7) Y Not reported DHEA RN4, SP6, EX-CA1, RN3 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 5 weeks EA (2 Hz) HOMA-IR Lin (2016) [35 ] SD rats (6/6) Y Not reported Letrozole + high fat diet (1) RN4, SP6; (2) BL18, BL20, BL23 15 minutes, 20 days MA T Maliqueo (2017) [36 ] Wistar rats (9/8) Y Not reported Letrozole Two needles bilaterally in the abdominal muscles, and two needles were placed in each soleus and gastrocnemius hindlimb muscles, in somatic segments (Th 10- L2) corresponding to ovarian innervations 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 5–6 weeks EA (2 Hz), 0.6–1.4 mA; FINS NS Meng (2018) [37 ] SD rats (8/8) Y Not reported TP + high fat diet SP6, RN4, RN12, LI10, ST36 30 min, 5 times a week, 5 weeks EA (2 Hz) WB Xu (2018) [38 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 160 ± 20 Letrozole ST36, SP6, CV4 20 min, 14 consecutive days EA (2 Hz), 1–3 mA WB Shi (2019) [39 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 180 ± 20 Letrozole CV3, CV4 20 min, 14 consecutive days EA (2 Hz), 2 mA T Xu (2019) [40 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 160 ± 20 Letrozole ST36, SP6, CV4 20 min, 14 consecutive days EA (2 Hz) LH Yu (2019) [41 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 180–200 Letrozole LI 10, ST36, SP6, RN4 20 minutes, 27 days EA (2 Hz) T Zhou (2019) [42 ] SD rats (10/10) Y Not reported Letrozole CV3, CV4 20 minutes, 14 days EA (2 Hz), 2 mA T Xu (2020) [14 ] SD rats (10/10) Y 160 ± 20 Letrozole CV3 and the point 5 mm next to CV3 at the same horizontal axis 20 minutes, 14 days EA (2 Hz), 2 mA WB Huang (2020) [43 ] SD rats (7/7) Y 130–170 Letrozole SP6, LR 3 20 minutes, 14 days EA (2 Hz), 2 mA T Kuang (2020) [44 ] SD rats (8/8) Y 50 ± 5 DHEA RN3, RN4, EX-CA1, SP6 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 5 weeks EA (2 Hz) WB Peng (2020) [13 ] SD rats (6/6) Not reported Not reported DHEA ST29, SP6 15 min in week 1, 20 min in weeks 2 and 3, and 25 min thereafter, 5 days/week, 5 weeks EA (2 Hz), 0.8–1.3 mA; T Tong (2020) [45 ] Wistar rats (11/14) Y Not reported DHT ST29, SP6 30 min a day, 5 days a week, 4 weeks EA (2 Hz), 2 mA Weight
