Mechanisms of Acupuncture Therapy for Cerebral Ischemia: an Evidence-Based Review of Clinical and Animal Studies on Cerebral Ischemia

Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology : the Official Journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology
Wen ZhuCun-Zhi Liu

Abstract

Ischemic stroke is a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide. As a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture has been shown to be effective in promoting recovery after stroke. In this article, we review the clinical and experimental studies that demonstrated the mechanisms of acupuncture treatment for cerebral ischemia. Clinical studies indicated that acupuncture activated relevant brain regions, modulated cerebral blood flow and related molecules in stroke patients. Evidence from laboratory indicated that acupuncture regulates cerebral blood flow and metabolism after the interrupt of blood supply. Acupuncture regulates multiple molecules and signaling pathways that lead to excitoxicity, oxidative stress, inflammation, neurons death and survival. Acupuncture also promotes neurogenesis, angiogenesis as well as neuroplasticity after ischemic damage. The evidence provided from clinical and laboratory suggests that acupuncture induces multi-level regulation via complex mechanisms and a single factor may not be enough to explain the beneficial effects against cerebral ischemia.

References

Jul 1, 1991·Journal of Neurology·J Igloffstein, P Vogel
Aug 1, 1985·Circulation Research·M W Bradbury
Dec 31, 1997·American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology·K C DasC W White
Dec 3, 1999·Stroke; a Journal of Cerebral Circulation·UNKNOWN Stroke Therapy Academic Industry Roundtable (STAIR)
Jan 10, 2001·Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism : Official Journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism·P H Chan
Feb 13, 2001·Trends in Neurosciences·D E BarañanoS H Snyder
Jun 8, 2001·Acupuncture & Electro-therapeutics Research·X D WuX D Cao
Aug 24, 2001·Journal of Neurology·J ParkE Ernst
Oct 20, 2001·Molecular Neurobiology·K NozakiN Hashimoto
Nov 10, 2001·Science·D H MauchF W Pfrieger
May 3, 2002·Nature·Hongjun SongFred H Gage
Jun 5, 2002·Acupuncture & Electro-therapeutics Research·Huanmin GaoJieshi Cheng
Aug 6, 2002·Nature Medicine·Andreas ArvidssonOlle Lindvall
Aug 10, 2002·Progress in Neurobiology·Philippe P Roux, Philip A Barker
Feb 7, 2003·Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism : Official Journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism·Yongmei Chen, Raymond A Swanson
Feb 21, 2003·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·Zaal Kokaia, Olle Lindvall
May 10, 2003·Pflügers Archiv : European journal of physiology·Andrew P Halestrap, David Meredith
Jun 7, 2003·Science·Gregory M Barton, Ruslan Medzhitov
Jul 15, 2003·The American Journal of Chinese Medicine·Jinning PangOsamu Miyamoto
Aug 15, 2003·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·K W Muir, K R Lees
Dec 4, 2003·Diabetes/metabolism Research and Reviews·Ruth B CaldwellR William Caldwell
Jan 10, 2004·Antioxidants & Redox Signaling·Hajime Nakamura
Feb 18, 2005·NeuroRx : the Journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics·Yu Dennis ChengJustin A Zivin
Apr 23, 2005·The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews·S H ZhangL Li
Jul 19, 2005·Annual Review of Neuroscience·Guo-li Ming, Hongjun Song
Jul 20, 2005·Current Drug Targets·Ruth B CaldwellR William Caldwell
Mar 23, 2006·The American Journal of Chinese Medicine·Ching-Liang HsiehHsien-Yuan Lane
May 16, 2006·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·Shin Kwak, John H Weiss
Aug 1, 2006·The American Journal of Pathology·Faisal AdhamiChia-Yi Kuan
Sep 14, 2006·Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging : JMRI·Geng LiEdward S Yang
Dec 26, 2006·Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications·Can-Xiang CaoJing-Zhou Wang
Jan 24, 2007·Lancet Neurology·Kathleen StrongRuth Bonita
Jul 3, 2007·The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine : Research on Paradigm, Practice, and Policy·Judith D SchaechterPeter M Wayne
Aug 10, 2007·The New England Journal of Medicine·Ashfaq ShuaibUNKNOWN SAINT II Trial Investigators

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Dec 28, 2017·Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : ECAM·Dan LuoFeng-Xia Liang
May 4, 2018·Neural Regeneration Research·Qwang-Yuen ChangChing-Liang Hsieh
Mar 25, 2020·Antioxidants·Chao-Hsien Chen, Ching-Liang Hsieh
Jul 28, 2020·Frontiers in Neurology·Ming-Qian OuHai-Hong Zhou
Jul 1, 2020·Medical Acupuncture·Wahyuningsih DjaaliIrma Nareswari
Mar 21, 2020·Acupuncture in Medicine : Journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society·Yi Lu, Guohua Li
Jul 29, 2021·The Anatomical Record : Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology·Chengfang TanSiqin Huang

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
pharmacotherapy

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Brain Ischemia

Brain ischemia is a condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to the brain to meet metabolic demand. Discover the latest research on brain ischemia here.