ReviewChinese medicine2024
Acupuncture may play a key role in anti-depression through various mechanisms in depression.
Review in Chinese medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The efficacy of acupuncture for depression-associated chronic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Effect of acupuncture on somatic symptom disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Research hotspots and trends of post-stroke depression rehabilitation: a bibliometric analysis from 2003 to 2024.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Olink proteomics identifies FGF-19 as a treatment-responsive inflammatory biomarker associated with acupuncture intervention in young females with mild depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Clinical Efficacy of Mind-Regulating Acupuncture on Post-Stroke Depression Based on the "Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis" Theory: A Randomized Controlled Study.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Trial
- Curative Effect and Autonomic Nerve Function of Patients With Primary Insomnia of Liver Depression and Spleen Deficiency Type Based on the Acupoint Selection of Meridian Theory: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- New perspective on acupuncture treatment for obesity: mechanisms in the brain based on multidimensional neural circuits.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- Efficacy and safety of adjunctive acupuncture for depression and motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Acupuncture for Major Depressive Disorder: Exploring the Gut Microbiota as a Novel Therapeutic Pathway.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Research Progress on the Pathogenesis of Post-Stroke Depression.ACS omega · 2025Review
- IL-4-JAK1-STAT6 Pathway Mediates Electroacupuncture's Effect on Microglial M2 Polarization to Treat Inflammatory Bowel Disease With Comorbid Depression.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Article
- Acupuncture in Dentistry: A Comprehensive Review of Its Applications, Mechanisms, and Clinical Efficacy.Cureus · 2025Review
- Comparative Effectiveness of Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Postpartum Depression and Anxiety: A Network Meta-Analysis.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2025Review
- Brain TRPV1 channel-mediated calcium influx: the immunomodulatory pathway of acupuncture in neuroinflammation.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Depression has emerged as a significant global health concern, exerting a profound impact on individuals, as evidenced by its high prevalence and associated suicide rates. Considering its pervasive nature, the absence of optimal treatment modalities remains a challenge. Acupuncture has garnered substantial clinical and experimental validation for its efficacy in addressing diverse forms of depression, including postpartum, post-stroke, and adolescent depression. This article endeavors to elucidate the distinctive attributes and underlying mechanisms of acupuncture in the contemporary treatment of depression. Research has demonstrated that acupuncture exerts diverse physiological effects in animal models of depression, encompassing modulation of the brain, serum, and brain-gut axis. These effects are attributed to various mechanisms, including anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative actions, promotion of neuronal plasticity, neuroprotection, neurotrophic effects, modulation of neurotransmitters, regulation of endocrine and immune functions, and modulation of cell signal pathways. Currently, the therapeutic mechanism of acupuncture involves the engagement of multiple targets, pathways, and bidirectional regulation. Hence, acupuncture emerges as a promising alternative medical modality, exhibiting substantial research prospects and meriting comprehensive worth further study and dissemination.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.