The Therapeutic Efficacy of Gold Needle "Regulating Spirit" Acupuncture for Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), the predominant subtype of mild cognitive impairment, carries the highest risk of progression to Alzheimer disease among all mild cognitive impairment subtypes. Currently, clinical practice lacks an established, authoritative treatment method for this condition. Prior clinical evidence indicates acupuncture may enhance cognitive function in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Further clinical evidence suggests Gold Needle therapy demonstrates significant therapeutic effects for challenging and refractory conditions; however, a critical gap exists: no clinical trials currently ascertain whether Gold Needle therapy surpasses conventional acupuncture in treating aMCI. This trial aims to rigorously evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of the Gold Needle "Regulating Spirit" method for clinical symptoms in patients with aMCI, alongside investigating its underlying imaging and biochemical mechanisms. Objective: This proposed study aims to identify imaging and laboratory biomarkers for the early diagnosis of aMCI, thereby providing a theoretical foundation for clinical practice. Methods: This randomized controlled trial will recruit 90 patients diagnosed with aMCI from the Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, affiliated with Capital Medical University, alongside 20 healthy volunteers. The 90 patients with aMCI will be randomly allocated to 1 of 3 groups: the Gold Needle "Regulating Spirit" group uses gold-based needles, the general acupuncture "Regulating Spirit" group, or a sham acupuncture control group. The Gold Needle "Regulate Spirit" group uses gold-based needles, the general acupuncture "Regulate Spirit" group uses standard needles, and the sham acupuncture group administers Park needles. Participants will undergo 3 sessions per week of their assigned acupuncture or placebo treatment over a continuous 12-week period. Results: This study was initiated on September 1, 2023. As of October 30, 2025, 110 eligible participants had been enrolled, and data collection had been completed in full. Data analysis is currently underway, and the preliminary results are expected to be available by June 2025. We hypothesize that, compared with the filiform needle-based mind-regulating acupuncture group, the golden needle-based mind-regulating acupuncture group will demonstrate superior efficacy in improving cognitive impairment. This superiority will be reflected in multiple key outcome measures, including Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Mini-Mental State Examination scores, plasma biomarkers, and functional magnetic resonance imaging findings. Conclusions: We anticipate that by the end of the trial, we will be able to definitively ascertain whether the gold acupuncture needle technique for "regulating spirit" offers a significant advantage in treating aMCI, and further investigate the nature of this therapeutic benefit, to offer a more efficacious intervention for the clinical management of aMCI and the prevention of Alzheimer disease.