Acupuncture treatment for Sjögren's syndrome: a narrative review on mechanism of treatment and clinical application.

Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is a systemic autoimmune disorder whose precise pathogenic mechanisms remain to be fully elucidated. Although Western medicine treatment has definite efficacy, it has disadvantages such as long medication cycles and many adverse reactions. According to literature review, traditional Chinese therapy acupuncture helps regulate immune disorders in SS patients. This regulation effectively alleviates symptoms such as xerostomia, xerophthalmia, fatigue, and joint pain, while also improving emotional disturbances like anxiety and depression. Nevertheless, most available relevant clinical studies are flawed by single-center design, small sample sizes and insufficient blinding, resulting in poor overall methodological quality and limited credibility of the clinical evidence. Furthermore, one randomized controlled study found that acupuncture yielded no superior effects on core symptom relief relative to sham acupuncture, with the between-group difference failing to reach statistical significance. This narrative review comprehensively synthesizes the available evidence, sorts out the potential mechanisms underlying acupuncture for Sjögren's syndrome - including regulating pro-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α and IL-17, modulating immunoglobulin levels, and restoring Th17/Treg balance - and summarizes relevant clinical studies. Meanwhile, it identifies common limitations of current research, namely insufficient sample sizes, non-standard trial protocol design, and poor methodological rigor. This review aims to provide references for future clinical trials, as well as novel insights and strategic directions for the clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of Sjögren's syndrome.