Differences in the individual curative effect of acupuncture for obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome based on metagenomic analysis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Overview of study visits

Item	Screening visit	Baseline visit	Treatment visit		End of treatment visit
Item	Screening visit	Baseline visit	Study group	Control group	End of treatment visit
Sign consent	×
History	×				×
Biometric features	×	×			×
Transvaginal ultrasound	×	×	×	×	×
Routine test	×				×
Hormone biomarkers		×			×
Metabolic biomarkers		×			×
Inflammatory biomarkers		×			×
Metagenomic analysis		×			×
Questionnaires		×			×
Acupuncture treatment			×
Adverse events			×	×

Note: Participants from the healthy control group will be selected for metagenomic analysis and will only be assessed at the initial screening visit. History, biometric features, routine test results, and metagenomic analysis will be assessed. Biometric features include body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference; transvaginal ultrasound includes endometrial thickness, ovarian volume, antral follicle count, and size of ovarian cysts or developing follicles; Routine tests include blood routine examination, liver function, kidney function, routine stool, and urine tests; Hormone biomarkers include luteinizing hormone (FSH), follicle-stimulating hormone (LH), total testosterone, progesterone, estradiol, and leptin; metabolic biomarkers include fasting blood glucose (FBG), fasting insulin (FINS), homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), c-peptide release tests, total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C); inflammatory biomarkers include C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, interleukin-18, and interleukin-22; questionnaires include Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS)

ISSN: 1745-6215