PMID: 

Acupunct Med. 2020 Feb 5:964528419900781. Epub 2020 Feb 5. PMID: 32022581

Abstract Title: 

Electroacupuncture versus manual acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled pilot trial.

Abstract: 

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to explore the feasibility of evaluating the comparative effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) relative to manual acupuncture (MA) for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis (KOA).METHODS: A multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in Beijing from September 2017 to January 2018. A total of 60 participants with KOA were randomly allocated to either EA ( = 30) or MA ( = 30) groups. Participants in the EA group were treated with EA at six to seven local traditional acupuncture points orpoints, and two to three distal points. Participants in the MA group had the same schedule as the EA group except that the electrical apparatus featured a working power indicator without actual current output, constituting a sham EA procedure, in order to blind participants. Both groups received 24 sessions over 8 weeks. The primary outcome was response rate, defined as a change of ⩾50% from baseline in the total scores of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) after 8 weeks. Secondary outcomes included pain, stiffness, function, quality of life, and acupuncture-related adverse events (AEs) at 4 and 8 weeks.RESULTS: Of 60 participants randomized, 53 (88%) completed the study. Response rates were 43% for the EA group and 30% for the MA group by the intention-to-treat analysis. Although significant differences were observed in WOMAC pain, stiffness, and function scores within both groups, between-group differences at 8 weeks did not reach statistical significance (odds ratio = 1.75 (95% confidence interval = 0.593-5.162)). Rates of AEs were low and similarly distributed between groups.CONCLUSION: Both EA and MA interventions in KOA were feasible and appeared safe. Whether or not EA may have a stronger impact on pain and function requires further evaluation through larger, adequately powered, randomized controlled trials.TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03274713.

read more

PMID: 

J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Feb 11. Epub 2020 Feb 11. PMID: 32045259

Abstract Title: 

Efficacy of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Elderly Patients with Hypertension in Home Health Care: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract: 

To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture in helping antihypertensive drugs lower the hypertension of elderly patients in home health care.Randomized controlled trial.Subjects were recruited from Branch of Linsen, Chinese Medicine, and Kunming, Taipei City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.A total of 70 participants with hypertension in home health care were assigned randomly to the acupuncture group (35 participants) or the control group (35 participants).The acupuncture group received antihypertensive drugs plus acupuncture twice a week for 12 weeks, and the control group received antihypertensive drugs only. Acupuncture points SP10, SP6, LR3, ST36, and LI4 were used bilaterally. Each acupuncture treatment session lasted 30 min. All the subjects were instructed not to alter their diet, physical activity, or use of drugs.Blood pressure (BP), heart rate variability, and the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) were assessed at baseline and at 6 and 12 weeks from the baseline between 9 am and 10 am in all subjects.A total of 31 participants in each group completed the study. Within-group differences were observed in systolic BP (SBP) ( 

read more

PMID: 

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 ;2020:5865697. Epub 2020 Jan 19. PMID: 32051687

Abstract Title: 

Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Perimenopausal Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Abstract: 

Objective: To determine the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for perimenopausal depression.Methods: We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI, VIP Citation Databases, Wan Fang, and online trial registries such as ClinicalTrials.gov for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for perimenopausal depression. Literature screening, data extraction, and determination of the risk of bias were performed by two researchers independently. The extracted data were pooled and meta-analyzed using RevMan5.3 software.Results: In total, 16 RCTs covering 1311 patients were enrolled. Overall, the results showed that acupuncture was more effective in the treatment of perimenopausal depression than antidepressants (OR = 2.68, 95% CI (1.84, 3.90),

read more

PMID: 

Altern Ther Health Med. 2020 Feb 21. Epub 2020 Feb 21. PMID: 32088669

Abstract Title: 

A Case Study on Preoperative Acupuncture in Reducing the Risk of Operation.

Abstract: 

The present study investigated the role of acupuncture as a pretreatment prior to surgery. The 72-y-old female was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer and suffered from severe anxiety before the operation. The blood pressure of the patient was elevated due to anxiety. With concern regarding the potential risk of planned surgery, the operation was cancelled. Alternatively, acupuncture was used to reduce her blood pressure and relieve the anxiety. Later on, the patient was examined by an anesthetist, who confirmed that the operation could be carried out as planned. Thus, acupuncture is a promising add-on treatment that may stabilize the condition of patients during surgery.

read more

PMID: 

Altern Ther Health Med. 2020 Feb 21. Epub 2020 Feb 21. PMID: 32088667

Abstract Title: 

Acupuncture for Patients in Coma after Traumatic Brain Injury: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract: 

Context: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an injury to the brain that occurs as a result of a direct impact, and affected persons are usually in a long-term coma. The evidence of the safety and effectiveness of acupuncture to treat coma is still not convincing.Objective: The study intended to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for arousing a patient in a coma following TBI.Design: Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, and 4 Chinese medical databases were searched from their inception to March 1, 2018, without language restrictions. The dataset included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined acupuncture as a therapy for arousing patients in a coma after TBI. The literature was screened ;the data were extracted ;and the methodological quality of the included studies was assessed. Meta-analyses were performed on the included data.Setting: This study was conducted at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Tianjin City, China).Participants: Participants in the selected RCTs were people of any age and either gender who were in a coma caused by TBI.Interventions: The intervention group in the selected RCTs had received acupuncture for TBI, either as a sole therapy or combined with other treatments, and the control group had received placebo acupuncture, sham acupuncture, conventional treatments, or other treatments. The interventions included traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture, ear acupuncture, and scalp acupuncture.Outcome Measures: The research team measured the Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS), wake-promoting rates, as well as the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS).Results: Of 884 potentially relevant trials, 24 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. The results of the meta-analysis suggested that the acupuncture group's coma state was significantly lessened after treatment compared with the control on GOS (RR, 1.95, 95% CI [1.64 to 2.31], P

read more

PMID: 

J Pain Res. 2020 ;13:239-250. Epub 2020 Jan 29. PMID: 32099448

Abstract Title: 

Electroacupuncture Treatment Attenuates Paclitaxel-Induced Neuropathic Pain in Rats via Inhibiting Spinal Glia and the TLR4/NF-κB Pathway.

Abstract: 

Background and Purpose: Neuropathic pain is a major side-effect of paclitaxel (PTX) chemotherapy. Although the precise mechanisms responsible for this pain are unclear, the activation of neuroglia and upregulation of the TLR4/NF-κB pathway are known to be involved. In this study, we determined whether electroacupuncture (EA) could limit mechanical hypersensitivity resulting from the chemotherapeutic drug PTX in rats, and investigated the potential mechanisms involved.Methods: Rats intraperitoneally received a cumulative dose of 8 mg/kg PTX (2 mg/kg per day) or vehicle control on alternate days (day 0, 2, 4 and 6). EA treatment (10 Hz, 1 mA) was applied at bilateral ST36 acupoints in rats once every other day on days 0-14. For sham EA, needles were inserted at ST36 acupoints without electrical stimulation. Mechanical allodynia was measured by mechanical withdrawal latency (MWL) of paws to a mechanical stimulus every 2 days. Protein expression of TLR4 and NF-κB p65, as well as TMEM119 and GFAP (indicators of microglia and astrocytes, respectively) in spinal cord was quantified by Western blot analysis. Levels of inflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNF-α in spinal cord and serum were detected by ELISA.Results: Mechanical allodynia induced by PTX in both paws (right and left) of rats was significantly attenuated by EA but not sham EA treatment. In addition, EA, but not sham EA, inhibited the activation of both microglia (TMEM119) and astrocytes (GFAP) in lumbar spinal cord. Moreover, Western blot analysis revealed that protein expression of TLR4 and NF-κB in spinal cord was suppressed by EA but not sham EA treatment. PTX significantly increased inflammatory cytokines in spinal cord and serum, which were ameliorated by EA treatment but not by sham EA.Conclusion: These results indicate that EA treatment attenuates PTX-induced mechanical allodynia. The putative mechanism corroborating this finding could be related to the suppression of activated microglia and astrocytes in spinal cord, as well as the inhibition of the activated TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway by EA treatment.

read more

PMID: 

Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2020 Feb 12 ;40(2):185-91. PMID: 32100506

Abstract Title: 

[Effect of electroacupuncture on SIRT1/NF-κB signaling pathway in adipose tissue of obese rats].

Abstract: 

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on insulin sensitivity, adipose tissue inflammatory reaction and silent information regulation factor 1(SIRT1)/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway in obese rats.METHODS: A total of 100 SPF-grade Wistar male rats were collected. Thirteen rats of them were selected randomly as the normal group and fed with common forage, and the rest rats were fed with high-fat forage. Eight weeks later, 39 rats that met the obesity criteria were randomized into a model group, an EA group and a sham-EA group, 13 rats in each one. In each group, 3 rats were collected randomly and the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp was exerted to record glucose infusion rate (GIR) so as to determine insulin sensitivity. Afterwards, in the EA group, EA was applied to"Zusanli"(ST 36),"Fenglong"(ST 40),"Zhongwan"(CV 12) and"Guanyuan"(CV 4), stimulated with continuous wave, 2 Hz in frequency, 1 mA in current intensity, for 15 min. The treatment was given once every 2 days, 3 times a week, for 8 weeks totally. In the sham-EA group, the needles were inserted shallowly at the sites, 5 mm lateral to each of the acupoints stimulated in the EA group, and the electrodes were attached to the needle handles, but without electric stimulation exerted. The rest management was the same as the EA group. Before and after intervention, the body mass and the insulin sensitivity were measured. After intervention, the white adipose tissue was collected from the kidney in the rats. Western blot was adopted to detect the relative protein expressions of SIRT1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and acetylated NF-κB (Ac-NFκB). The real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR was used to detect the mRNA expressions of SIRT1, IL-6 and TNF-α. The immunofluorescence double labeling method was applied to detect the co-expression of SIRT1 and Ac-NFκB in adipose tissue.RESULTS: After fed with high-fat forage for 8 weeks, the body mass was significantly increased and GIR decreased in the rats of the model group as compared with the normal group (

read more

PMID: 

Integr Cancer Ther. 2020 Jan-Dec;19:1534735420908327. PMID: 32100576

Abstract Title: 

The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Preventing Radiation Pneumonitis in Patients With Lung Cancer: A Prospective, Single-Blinded, Randomized Pilot Proof-of-Principle Study.

Abstract: 

We evaluated the efficacy and safety of acupuncture for prevention of radiation pneumonitis in patients with lung cancer.Twenty-five patients were prospectively enrolled in this study and randomized to either intervention group or control group. The patients assigned to the intervention group received 15 minutes of acupuncture treatment twice a week. The patients assigned to the control group received RT alone without acupuncture treatment. The primary endpoint was incidence of radiation pneumonitis. The secondary endpoints were FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1 second), DLCO (diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide), 6-minute walk distance, and modified Borg scale.The intervention group showed lower incidences of grade 3 and grade≥2 radiation pneumonitis than the control group (10% vs 30% for grade 3 and 50% vs 60% for grade ≥2). In the control group, mean DLCO value was decreased from 62.1% at baseline to 49.1% after RT (= .004). The DLCO was also decreased after RT in the intervention group, but the decrement was not statistically significant (56.7% at baseline and 50.9% after RT,= .204). The FEV1 and 6-minute walk distance were decreased after RT in the control group. However, FEV1 and 6-minute walk distance were increased after RT in the intervention group.This study found that patients who received acupuncture treatment showed a lower incidence of radiation pneumonitis and a protective effect against aggravation of pulmonary function after RT in patients with lung cancer. To confirm the results of this study, well-designed randomized studies with large sample sizes will be required.

read more

PMID: 

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 ;2020:8630368. Epub 2020 Feb 10. PMID: 32104195

Abstract Title: 

Electroacupuncture Alleviates Pain-Related Emotion by Upregulating the Expression of NPS and Its Receptor NPSR in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Hypothalamus.

Abstract: 

Objective: Electroacupuncture (EA) is reported effective in alleviating pain-related emotion; however, the underlying mechanism of its effects still needs to be elucidated. The NPS-NPSR system has been validated for the involvement in the modulation of analgesia and emotional behavior. Here, we aimed to investigate the role of the NPS-NPSR system in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), hypothalamus, and central amygdala (CeA) in the use of EA to relieve affective pain modeled by complete Freund's adjuvant- (CFA-) evoked conditioned place aversion (C-CPA).. CFA injection combined with a CPA paradigm was introduced to establish the C-CPA model, and the elevated O-maze (EOM) was used to test the behavioral changes after model establishment. We further explored the expression of NPS and NPSR at the protein and gene levels in the brain regions of interest by immunofluorescence staining and quantitative real-time PCR.Results: We observed that EA stimulation delivered to the bilateral Zusanli (ST36) and Kunlun (BL60) acupoints remarkably inhibited sensory pain, pain-evoked place aversion, and anxiety-like behavior. The current study showed that EA significantly enhanced the protein expression of this peptide system in the ACC and hypothalamus, while the elevated expression of NPSR protein alone was just confined to the affected side in the CeA. Moreover, EA remarkably upregulated the mRNA expression of NPS in CeA, ACC, and hypothalamus and NPSR mRNA in the hypothalamus and CeA.Conclusions: These data suggest the effectiveness of EA in alleviating affective pain, and these benefits may at least partially be attributable to the upregulation of the NPS-NPSR system in the ACC and hypothalamus.

read more

PMID: 

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 ;2020:7061972. Epub 2020 Feb 10. PMID: 32104194

Abstract Title: 

Electroacupuncture Alleviates Experimental Chronic Inflammatory Pain by Inhibiting Calcium Voltage-Gated Channel-Mediated Inflammation.

Abstract: 

Background: Both experimental and clinical studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) administration ameliorates chronic inflammatory pain (CIP). However, the multifaceted mechanism underlying the effects of EA on CIP is poorly understood. In this study, the mRNA transcriptome was used to study various therapeutic targets of EA.Methods: Using RNA-sequencing, protein-coding mRNA expression profiles of the L4-L5 dorsal root ganglion (DRG) were examined in the control (CN), complete Freund's adjuvant- (CFA-) induced CIP, and EA-treated CIP groups. A series of bioinformatics analyses was performed;"EA-reversed upregulated genes with CIP"(up-DEGs) and"EA-reversed downregulated genes with CIP"(down-DEGs) were identified. Thereafter, based on up-DEGs and down-DEGs, biological functions and signaling pathways were enriched using gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway analyses.Results: In total, 189 DEGs were identified, including 134 up- and 55 down-DEGs, which were enriched in arachidonic acid metabolism (rno00590), glutamatergic synapse (rno04724), serotonergic synapse (rno04726), FoxO signaling pathway (rno04068), insulin signaling pathway (rno04910), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (rno05014), cholinergic synapse (rno04725), ECM-receptor interaction (rno04512), and choline metabolism in cancer (rno05231).Conclusion: We identified a few GOs, pathways, and genes that could play key roles in the amelioration of CIP by EA. Hence, this study may provide a theoretical basis for CIP amelioration by EA.

read more