Abstract:

Assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been widely used for the treatment of infertility, with an overall success rate of 30% to 40%. Beyond age, physiological and pathological factors, the emotional stress is increasingly recognized as a significant and modifiable factor influencing ART outcomes. Modern medicine explains the action mechanism of emotional factors through the psycho-neuro-endocrine-immune network. While in traditional Chinese medicine, the theory of "intercourse between heart and kidney" provides a profound perspective on the dynamic balance between mental and emotional states (heart) and reproductive function (kidney). This relationship involves both mutual promotion and restraint, offering a distinctive lens through which to examine how emotions affect ART treatment throughout the entire process, along with diverse intervention strategies. This article systematically outlines the theoretical basis of "intercourse between heart and kidney", analyzes how emotional imbalances, such as excessive worry, fear, fright, or unresolved anger, can disrupt the harmonious balance between the heart and kidneys, leading to the core pathogenesis known as "disharmony between heart and kidney". This disruption may contribute to essence deficiency, hyperactivity of fire, mental agitation, and uterine stagnation, ultimately impairing follicular development, embryo quality and endometrial receptivity. Based on the principle of "restoring heart-kidney communication", the integrated treatment strategies include Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, emotional regulation and other holistic approaches, as theoretical reference and practical insights for the use of emotional regulation in ART treatment of infertility in clinical practice, thereby fostering deeper integration of Chinese and Western medicine in the field of reproductive medicine.

Key words: Intercourse between heart and kidney, Emotional therapy, Reproductive techniques, assisted, Syndrome of disharmony between heart and kidney, Rationale of TCM science