Clinical Study of Warm Needle with Long Segment Moxa on the Asthenozoospermia with Kidney Deficiency and Liver Depression

OBJECTIVE   To observe the clinical efficacy of warm needle with long segment moxa on semen routine examination, seminal plasma biochemistry, and sex hormone levels in the treatment of asthenozoospermia with kidney deficiency and liver depression.METHODS   The included cases were randomly divided into the observation group, the drug group, the conventional warm needle group and the ordinary needle group, 35 cases in each group. The observation group used the warm needle with 4 cm moxa segments, the drug group applied zinc sulfate tablets, vitamin E soft capsules, and Wuzi Yanzong pill, the conventional warm needle group used 2.5 cm moxa segments, and the ordinary needle group used conventional acupuncture without moxibustion. All groups were treated for 4 weeks as a course of treatment, and 2 courses for each group. The changes of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score, semen routine examination, seminal plasma biochemistry, and sex hormone levels were observed before and after treatment in the four groups.RESULTS   The efficacies of the observation group and the drug group were better than those of the general acupuncture group (P < 0.05). In terms of the improvement of TCM symptom scores (depressed mood, memory loss, clear and cold semen), the observation group was better than the other 3 groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Sperm viability, grade a sperm, and grade a+b sperm in all 4 groups were higher than those before treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Sperm malformation rate in each group decreased than that before treatment (P < 0.01). Malformation rate, grade a sperm, and grade a+b sperm in the observation group was better than those of the other 3 groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). In terms of sperm viability, the observation group was better than the conventional warm needle group and the ordinary acupuncture group (P < 0.01). The seminal plasma fructose, neutral α-glucocerebrosidase of the four groups and zinc content in seminal plasma of the drug control group were all higher than those before treatment (P < 0.01). The observation group were better than the other three groups in the levels of seminal plasma fructose and neutral α-glucocerebrosidase(P < 0.01). The testosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone in all groups were higher than those before treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). The observation group was better than the drug group in terms of testosterone level (P < 0.01), and the observation group were better than the other three groups in terms of the levels of luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).CONCLUSION   The treatment of asthenozoospermia with kidney deficiency and liver depression by the warm needle with long segment moxa was more effective and could significantly improve the clinical TCM symptoms, semen routine examination, seminal plasma biochemistry and indexes related to sex hormone levels. The mechanism may be related to the regulation of sex hormone level.