Case reports: Electroacupuncture decreases the climacteric symptoms by calcitonin gene-related peptide modulation

Objective: The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the modulation of Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) associated to the efficacy of Electroacupuncture (EA) in the reduction of climacteric symptoms. Methods: Nine women between 51 and 59 years old with climacteric syndrome in menopause or perimenopause were included. Patients with hormone replacement therapy, psychiatric treatment with antidepressants, or acupuncture treatment in the last 3 months were excluded. A 4 Hz EA treatment was performed at acupoints Shenshu (BL-23), Pishu (BL-20), Guanyuan (REN-4), Taixi (KID-3), Fuliu (KID-7), Sanyinjiao (SP-6) and Neiguan (P-6) points. Women were treated two times a week for five consecutive weeks for a total treatment of 10 sessions. The menopause rating scale (MRS) was used to evaluate symptoms reduction and CGRP gene expression was measured before and after 10 EA session. Results: The results shown that climacteric symptoms diminish significantly after EA therapy. CGRP gene expression was down-regulated, evidencing a decrease of 5-fold after EA therapy respect to the initial condition. Conclusion: EA treatment was associated with improvement in patients with climacteric syndrome and may be related to modulation of CGRP levels.