Every so often a study gets shared widely because the headline sounds like a breakthrough. This one is a 2022 laboratory study from Shanghai on a traditional seven-herb formula. It is worth reading properly, mainly because it is a good example of what early-stage research can show, and what it very much cannot.
A team at Yueyang Hospital of Integrative Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, part of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, studied a formula called Tiaojing Cuyun Recipe, which translates roughly as "regulate the cycle, promote conception". It is a water decoction of seven herbs that the team uses in its own clinic for women with fertility difficulties.
To test it, they used 120 pregnant mice divided into six groups of 20. In five of the groups, implantation was deliberately disrupted on day four of pregnancy with a single injection of mifepristone, a drug that blocks progesterone. The researchers call this model embryo implantation dysfunction. Of those five groups, one received nothing, one received progesterone, and three received the herbal decoction at low, medium or high dose. A sixth group was not disrupted at all. The team then examined the uterus on day four and counted implanted embryos on day eight.
Compared with the disrupted, untreated mice, those given the decoction, most clearly at the high dose, had more implantation sites, and the embryos looked better developed.
Treated mice had more well-developed pinopodes (tiny surface structures linked to the window when an embryo can attach) and higher levels of several receptivity markers. Progesterone and its receptor were also less depleted.
The uterine lining had denser microscopic blood vessels, along with higher activity in a VEGF, PI3K/Akt and eNOS signalling chain that produces nitric oxide, a molecule involved in blood vessel growth.
Dangshen (Codonopsis), Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza), Danggui (Angelica sinensis), Huangqi (Astragalus), Shudihuang (prepared Rehmannia), Bajitian (Morinda officinalis) and Yinyanghuo (Epimedium).
The herbs were boiled in water, concentrated, and chemically fingerprinted by high-performance liquid chromatography to confirm that key compounds were present in the extract given to the mice.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, formulas like this are described in terms of tonifying the Kidney and Blood and moving Blood stasis. What makes the study useful is that it gives researchers specific, testable biological questions, such as endometrial blood flow and receptivity markers, to follow up with better-designed work. That is how most promising ideas in medicine begin: as a pattern in the lab that then has to survive much tougher tests.
Results in animals often do not carry over to people. Nothing in this article should be read as a claim that any herbal remedy treats infertility or improves the chance of pregnancy.
The first step if you are having difficulty conceiving is a conversation with your GP or a fertility specialist, so that the cause can be properly investigated. Herbal medicines are not automatically safe: they can interact with medicines, including those used in fertility treatment, and some are not suitable once you are pregnant. Please never start herbs on your own, or because of an article like this one, and always tell your doctor about everything you take.
At AcuRodos, no herbal products are advertised for specific conditions or sold online. Any herbal preparations are supplied directly to the individual patient following a personal clinical assessment only. Acupuncture is our main tool, and we work alongside your GP or fertility clinic, never instead of them.
Book a consultation at AcuRodos in Clonee Village, Co. Meath, to talk about how acupuncture may support you alongside your medical care.
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