ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the treatment of acne vulgaris with acupuncture by different methods of point selection.Methods 51 cases of acne vulgaris were randomly recruited into local point selection group,distal point selection group and combination of local and distal point selection group.10 cases of healthy people were recruited for normal control group.Serum arachidonic acid (AA),free testosterone (FT),and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels were observed in all treatment groups.Results After the treatment,serum AA was (20.56±5.28)μg/L,(18.86±5.70) μg/L and (14.62±3.06) μg/L,while SHBG was (333.31±87.96) nmol/L,(332.02±87.82) nmol/L and (273.02±61.74) nmol/L respectively in local point selection group,distal point selection group and combination of local and distal point selection group,both showing no significant difference than the normal control group (P＞0.05).There was no significant difference in FT value between the combination of local and distal point selection group (5.62± 1.98) nmol/L and the normal control group (P＞0.05).The decrease of AA in the combination of local and distal point selection group was between than the local point selection group (P＜0.01).Conclusion Acupuncture can effectively improve the level of inflammatory factors and androgen of the acne vulgaris.Different methods of point selection of acupuncture on the improvement of some indicators were quite different,which laid the foundation for the best compatibility of acupuncture treatment in acne vulgaris.