. 2021 Dec 21;14:7191–7224. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S341581

Table 3.

Anti-Inflammatory Actions of Acupuncture in Respiratory System Diseases

Refs.	Inflammatory Model	Intervention Methods	Acupoints	Acupuncture Parameters	Inflammation-Related Behaviors	Test Sites	Biochemical Measurements
Feng, 2020³⁵	ARDS	EA pre-treatment	LI4	2/100 Hz, 4.0 mA, 45 min	—	Lung tissues, serum, BALF	TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓, MPO↓, PPARγ↑, MDA↓, SOD↑, GSH↑, Bax↓, Bcl-2↑, p-p65↓, p-IκBα↓, IκBα↑, PaO₂↑
Lou, 2020³⁶	ALI	EA pre-treatment	ST36, SP6	2/15 Hz, 1.0 mA, dispersed waves, 30 min	Lung injury scores	Lung tissues	TNF-α↓, IL-1↓, IL-6↓, MPO↓, TLR4↓, p‐NF‐κB↓
Gong, 2020³⁷	ALI	EA	BL13, ST36	2/15Hz, 1.0 mA, disperse-dense wave, 15 min, 5 days	—	BALF, lung tissues, plasma	Nrf2↑, HO-1↑, p-p38/p38↑, SOD↑, GPX↑, CAT↑, MDA↓, Nrf2↑, HO-1↑
Huang, 2019³⁸	CPB	EA pre-treatment	BL13, ST36	2/15 Hz, 30 min	—	Lung tissues, serum, BALF	NLRP3↓, IL-1β↓
Dhar, 2019³⁹	CPB	EA pre-treatment	PC6, LI4	30 min	—	Lung tissues, serum	TNF-α↓, IL-18↓, IL-1β↓, NLRP3↓, Caspase-1↓, Caspase-8↓, p-Nrf2↓, MDA↓, SOD↑
Ma, 2017⁴⁰	CPB	EA pre-treatment	PC6, LI4	2/100 Hz, 0.5 ms pulse width, 30 min	—	Lung tissues	MPO↓, MDA↓, SOD↑, Caspase-3↓, p-p38/p38↓
Li, 2015⁴²	COPD	MA	BL13, BL23, Dingchuan	Twisted through 360°, 1 min every 5 min, 6 times	Pulmonary function (IC, PEF, MV)	Lung tissues, BALF	TNF-α↓, IL-8↓, HDAC2↑
Dong, 2019⁴⁴	Asthma	MA	GV14, BL12, BL13	30 min	Airway resistance, lung dynamic compliance	Lung tissues, serum	IL-10↑, IL-5↓, IL-13↓, IL-17↓, CD4⁺ IL-17A⁺↓, CD4⁺ Foxp3⁺↑, p-p38↓, p-p44/42↓
Zhou, 2019⁴⁵	Chronic sinusitis	EA	ST36, BL13, GV29, LI4	30 min, 10 days	—	Nasal tissues	IFN‑γ↑, IL‑10↑
Dong, 2018⁴⁶	Asthma	MA	GV14, BL12, BL13	Manual manipulations every 10 min in 30 min	Airway resistance, lung dynamic compliance	Lung tissues, serum, BALF	TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, IL-33↓, sST2↑, CD4+IL-17A+↓, CD4+Foxp3+↑
Cui, 2020⁴⁸	Asthma	MA	GV14, BL12, BL13	Twisted 360°, 60 times/min, 5 times, 20 min	—	Serum, BALF	IL-5↓, IL-9↓, IL-13↓, IL-25↓, IL-33↓, sST2↑
Nurwati, 2018⁴⁹	Asthma	MA	BL13, ST36	15 min, 3 times/week, 6 weeks from 21st day after modeling	—	Peripheral blood	neutrophil↓, eosinophil↓

Notes: ↑, upregulated by acupuncture; ↓, downregulated by acupuncture.

Abbreviations: ARDS, acute respiratory distress syndrome; ALI, acute lung injury; CPB, cardiopulmonary bypass; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; IC, inspiratory capacity; PEF, peak expiratory flow; MV, minute volume; BALF, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid; PPARγ, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ; glutathione peroxidase; GPX, GSH, glutathione; HDAC2, histone deacetylase 2; sST2, soluble growth-stimulating expression gene 2 protein; BL13, Feishu; PC6, Neiguan; BL23, Shenshu; GV14, Dazhui; BL12, Fengmen; GV29, Yingxiang.