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

Table 4.

Anti-Inflammatory Actions of Acupuncture in Nervous System Diseases

Refs.	Inflammatory Model	Intervention Methods	Acupoints	Acupuncture Parameters	Inflammation-Related Behaviors	Test Sites	Biochemical Measurements
Zhu, 2017⁵³	SCI	EA pretreatment	GV9, GV6, GV2, GV1	60 Hz for 1.05 sec, 2 Hz for 2.85 sec, 20 min, every other day, 4 weeks	Assessment of Neurologic Dysfunction	Spinal cord	TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, HMGB1↓
Lu, 2016⁵⁴	Depression	MA	GV20, PC6	2 times per second for 1 min in 10 min, once every other day, 4 weeks	SPT, OFT	Hippocampus, prefrontal cortex	NO↓, PGE2↓, iNOS↓, COX-2↓, NF-κB↓
Ye, 2017⁵⁵	TBI	EA	ST36, GV14	2/15 Hz, 1.0 mA, 30 min, 35 days	NSS, MWM	Hippocampal tissues	TLR4↓, Myd88↓, TRAF6↓, TRAM↓, TRIF↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓
Cai, 2020⁵⁶	Hemorrhagic stroke	Cross electro-nape-acupuncture (CENA)	GB20, TE17	30 min	Neurological functions, encephaledema	Brain tissue	RIPK1↓, p- RIPK3↓, p-MLKl↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6 ↓, IL-8↓
Li, 2019⁵⁷	Neuropathic pain	EA	ST36, BL60	2 Hz, 0.5–1.5 mA, 30 min	MWT, TWL	DRG	TLR4↓, MyD88↓, TRPV-1↓
Zhou, 2020⁵⁸	IS	EA	GV20, LI4, LR3	1.0 mA, 20 Hz for 5 min, 2 Hz for 30 min	Neurological function assessment	Ischemic cerebral cortex	ABIN1↑, IκBα↓, NF-κB p65↓, TNF-α↓, MCP-1↓, IL-1β↓
Liu, 2020⁵⁹	IS	EA	GV20, GV14	2/15 Hz, 1.0–2.0 mA, 30 min	—	Ischemic cerebral cortex	NF-κB↓, IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓
Liu, 2016⁶⁰	IS	EA	LI11, ST36	1–20 Hz, 0.2 mA, 30 min, 3 days	Assessment of neurological outcome	Ischemic cerebral cortex	NF-κB p65↓, p38 MAPK↓, MyD88↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓
Jiang, 2017⁶¹	IS	EA	GV20, LI4, LR3	1.0 mA, 20 Hz for 5 min, 2 Hz for 30 min	Neurobehavioral Evaluation	Ischemic cerebral cortex	CYLD↑, NF-κB↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, CX3CL1↓
Hu, 2020⁶²	CPIP	EA	ST36, BL60	2 Hz, 0.5–1.5 mA, 30 min	MWT, TWL, Hind paw edema evaluation	Spinal dorsal horn	CXCL12↓, CXCR4↓
Wang, 2020⁶³	VD	MA	GV20, ST36	10 min, 2 weeks	MWM	Hippocampus, plasma	miR-93↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, TLR4↓, MyD88↓, p-NF-κB p65↓
Liu, 2016⁶⁴	IS	EA	LI11, ST36	1/20 Hz, 30 min	Scoring of neurological deficits	Ischemic cerebral cortex	miR-9↓, NF-κB↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓
Wang, 2017⁶⁵	MDD	MA	GV29, GV20	20 min, 28 days	OFT	Frontal Cortex	Related to genes
Liu, 2018⁶⁶	Hemorrhagic stroke	MA	GV20, GB7	200 r/min for 5 min, 3 session	mNSS, encephaledema	Brain tissue	Syk↓, CARD9↓, Mincle↓, IL-1β↓
Zhao, 2020⁶⁹	Migraine	EA	GB20, GB34	2/15 Hz, 0.5–1.0 mA, 20 min	MWT	Dura mater, serum	COX2↓, CGRP↓, BDNF↓, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓, TNF-α↓
Huang, 2017⁷⁰	IS	EA	GV20, GV24	2/20 Hz, 0.2 mA, 30 min	Neurobehavioral assessment, MWM	Hippocampal CA1, ischemic cerebral cortex	P2X7R↑, P2Y1R↑, IL-10↑, IL-1β↓
Wang, 2020⁷¹	AD	EA	GV20, BL23, KI3	2 Hz, 0.6 mA, 15 min, 2 months	MWM	Cortex	TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-17↓, Aβ↓
Cai, 2019⁷²	AD	EA	KI3	2 Hz, 1.0 mA, 15 min, 6 times /2 weeks	Cognitive functions, Novel object recognition test, Y-maze tests	Prefrontal cortex	CD11b↓, GFAP↓, COX-2↓, HO-1↓, transferrin↓, Bax↓, Aβ↓
Jiang, 2018⁷³	AD	EA	GV20, GV26, EX-HN3	2 Hz, 0.6 mA, 15 days except the 8th day	—	Hippocampus	NLRP3↓, IL-1β↓, ASC↓, Caspase-1↓
Yu, 2020⁷⁴	PD	EA	CV12, RN7, ST36, LR3	100 Hz, 1.0 mA, 20 min, 14 days	Rotational behavior	Substantia nigra, striatum	COX-2↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓
Du, 2018⁷⁶	VD	MA	ST36, GV20	2 times/sec, 30 sec, 2 weeks	MWM	Hippocampus	TXNIP↓, NLRP3 inflammasome↓, IL-1β↓, ROS↓
Zhu, 2020⁷⁷	TBI	MA	GV15, GV16, GV20, GV26, LI4	360° twisting range, 120–160 beats/min for 1 min, 15 min, twisted once every 5 min	—	Brain tissue	CD86↑, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓, TNF-α↓, ROCK2↓, RhoA↓
Frantz, 2017⁷⁸	Epilepsia	MA	GV20	2 spins/sec, 15 sec, 10 min	Behavioral seizure	Brain tissue	TNF-α↓, SOD↑, CAT↑
Zhang, 2020⁷⁹	Depression	EA	GV29, GV20	2 Hz, 30 min, 7 days	OFT, FST, SPT	Hippocampus, serum	IL-6↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, tryptophan↑, kynurenine ↓, quinolinic acid↓, 5-HT↑, Kyn/Trp radio ↓, NR2A↓, NR2B↓
Long, 2019⁸⁰	IS	EA pretreatment	GV20, BL23, SP6	2/100 Hz, 1.0 mA, 10 min, no current for 5 min, 4 times for 1 h	Neurological deficit scores	Hippocampus	TRPV-1↓, p38 MAPK↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓
Kong, 2021⁸¹	Hemorrhagic stroke	MA	GV20, GB7	30 min, 200 rpm/min, 3 times, 5 min, 3 days	Neurobehavioral assessment, Motor functional test, cognitive‐behavioral Tests, encephaledema	Perihematomal area	IL-6↓, IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, miR-23a-3p↓, ROS↓, MDA↓, GPX4↑
Zhang, 2016⁸³	Migraine	EA pre-treatment	GB20, TE5	2/15 Hz, 1.0 mA, 30 min, 5 days	—	Trigeminal ganglion	CGRP↓, PGE2↓, IL-1β↓, COX2↓, CB1 receptor↑

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

Abbreviations: SCI, spinal cord injury; TBI, traumatic brain injury; IS, ischemic stroke; CPIP, Chronic postischemia pain; VD, vascular dementia; MDD, major depressive disorder; AD, Alzheimer's disease; PD, Parkinson’s disease; CENA, Cross electro-nape-acupuncture; SPT, sucrose preference test; OFT, open field test; NSS, neurological severity score; mNSS, modified neurological severity score; FST, forced swimming test; HMGB1, High mobility group box-1; PGE2, prostaglandin E2; TRAF6, TNF receptor associated factor 6; TRAM, Trif-related adaptor molecule; TRIF, TIR-domain-containing adaptor inducing interferon-β; RIPK1, receptor interacting protein kinase 1; DRG, dorsal root ganglion; CYLD, cylindromatosis; ABIN1, A20-binding inhibitor of NF-κB1; Syk, spleen Tyrosine Kinase; CARD9, caspase recruitment domain 9; CGRP, calcitonin gene related peptide; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; Aβ, amyloid protein; P2X7R, purinergic P2X7 receptor; ASC, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD; TXNIP, thioredoxin-interacting protein; Rock2, Rho related protein kinase 2; TRPV-1, transient receptor potential vanilloid-1; GPX4, glutathione peroxidase 4; CB1, cannabinoid type 1; GV9, Zhiyang; GV6, Jizhong; GV2, Yaoshu; GV1, Changqiang; GB20, Fengchi; TE17, Yifeng; GB7, Qubin; GV24, Shenting; KI3, Taixi; GV26, Shuigou; EX-HN3, Yintang; CV12, Zhongwan; RN7, Yinjiao; GV15, Yamen; GV16, Fengfu; TE5, Waiguan.