Evidence mapPaperPMID 41601533Full record

ReviewFrontiers in neuroscience2025

Insomnia treatment based on the regulation of the GABAergic system: traditional Chinese medicine perspectives and therapeutic approaches.

Chen-Zhe Cheng, Ming-Zhen Xie, Yuan Tian, Wen-Qi Qiao, Ze-Yu Yu, Shi-Qing Wang, Feng Yun

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Chen-Zhe ChengHeilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Ming-Zhen XieHeilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Yuan TianThe Third Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Wen-Qi QiaoThe Third Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Ze-Yu YuThe Third Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Shi-Qing WangThe Third Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.
Feng YunHeilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Insomnia is a common clinical manifestation of central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction that may be attributable to the involvement of abnormalities in multiple systems. Dysfunction of the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system is one of the key pathologic factors responsible for the increased neural excitability. GABA has been regarded as the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS, which can maintain the dynamic balance of neural networks by regulating neuronal excitability. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), with its multi-component, multi-target therapeutic advantages, shows unique potential in regulating the GABAergic system to improve sleep disorders. Accordingly, this review systematically elucidated the underlying mechanisms of TCM in treating insomnia by regulating the GABAergic system. According to the results, the intervention pathways of TCM exhibited multidimensional characteristics. TCM could effectively enhance GABA levels, strengthen GABAergic neural signal transmission, and improve insomnia symptoms by activating GABA receptor expression, upregulating glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) expression, and inhibiting GABA transaminase (GABA-T) activity. Furthermore, TCM could regulate the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, inhibit neuroinflammation, regulate circadian rhythms, and enhance neurotrophic mechanisms, thereby synergizing with the GABAergic system to exert a sedative and sleep-promoting effect. With a systematic elaboration of the mechanisms of the GABAergic system, findings in this study may provide a theoretical basis for establishing a TCM evaluation system for insomnia based on the modulation of the GABAergic system. It can also offer fresh insights into the diagnosis and treatment of insomnia from the perspective of TCM, expand new directions for clinical research, and supply potential reference for future in-depth studies.

Indexed as

Chinese herbal formulasChinese patent medicineGABAergic systemherbalinsomniatraditional Chinese medicine

Identifiers

PMID41601533
PMCPMC12833008

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.