Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Jun 19, 2023; 13(6): 340-350
Published online Jun 19, 2023. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v13.i6.340
Acupuncture at Back-Shu point improves insomnia by reducing inflammation and inhibiting the ERK/NF-κB signaling pathway
Ming-Ming Zhang, Jing-Wei Zhao, Zhi-Qiang Li, Jing Shao, Xi-Yan Gao
Ming-Ming Zhang, Zhi-Qiang Li, Department of Pain Treatment, Luoyang Orthopedic Traumatological Hospital of Henan Province, Zhengzhou 471002, Henan Province, China
Jing-Wei Zhao, Jing Shao, Department of Geriatric Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan Province, China
Xi-Yan Gao, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang MM and Zhao JW contributed equally to this work; Gao XY, Zhang MM and Zhao JW designed the study; Zhang MM, Zhao JW, and Li ZQ conducted the study; Zhang MM and Shao J contributed new reagents and analytical tools; Zhang MM analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author at gaoxiyan26@126.com on reasonable request.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xi-Yan Gao, MD, Professor, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 156, Jinshui East Road, Zhengdong New District, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan Province, China. gaoxiyan26@126.com
Received: April 14, 2023
Peer-review started: April 14, 2023
First decision: April 26, 2023
Revised: May 5, 2023
Accepted: May 22, 2023
Article in press: May 22, 2023
Published online: June 19, 2023
Core Tip

Core Tip: In this study, insomnia was a condition that was unable to maintain a stable sleep state or to sleep. Western medicine mainly uses sedative and hypnotic drugs to treat insomnia, which easy to produce drug resistance and some adverse reactions. Acupuncture has excellent efficacy and unique advantages in the treatment of insomnia. This study aimed to investigate the molecular mechanism of Back-Shu acupuncture for insomnia.