ReviewMediators of inflammation2003
Anti-inflammatory actions of acupuncture.
Review in Mediators of inflammation, 2003. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 105 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Hypnotherapy for Prevention of Relapse in Ulcerative Colitis: a Randomised, Single-blind, Controlled Clinical Trial
Clinical Outcome of Electrical Auricular Vagal Stimulation in Patients With Stable Symptomatic Chronic Heart Failure
A Single-Arm Pilot Study of the Feasibility and Efficacy of Electro-Acupuncture in Subjects With Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
Who cites it
105 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 330 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative efficacy of traditional non-pharmacological add-on treatments in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Acupuncture Therapy as an Evidence-Based Nonpharmacologic Strategy for Comprehensive Acute Pain Care: The Academic Consortium Pain Task Force White Paper Update.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of acupuncture for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2019Pooled it
- How effective is acupuncture for reducing pain due to plantar fasciitis?Singapore medical journal · 2017Pooled it
- A systematic review of the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture for allergic rhinitis.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2008Pooled it
- Discovery of the mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine based on functional magnetic resonance imaging and omics.Frontiers of medicine · 2023Trial
- Auriculotherapy used to manage orthodontic pain: a randomized controlled pilot study.Dental press journal of orthodontics · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Acupuncture for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): A multicenter, randomized, sham-controlled trial.Medicine · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Randomized sham-controlled pilot trial of weekly electro-acupuncture for the prevention of taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy in women with early stage breast cancer.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2016Trial
- Wound-healing effect of acupuncture for treating phonotraumatic vocal pathologies: A cytokine study.The Laryngoscope · 2016Trial
- Effect of electroacupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) and Sanyinjiao (SP6) acupoints on adrenocortical function in etomidate anesthesia patients.Medical science monitor : international medical journal of experimental and clinical research · 2014Trial
- Effects of some acupoints (Du-14, Li-11, St-36, and Sp-6) on serum TNF-α and hsCRP levels in healthy young subjects.Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.) · 2011Trial
- Effect of a single acupuncture treatment on surgical wound healing in dogs: a randomized, single blinded, controlled pilot study.Acta veterinaria Scandinavica · 2010Trial
- Acupuncture for persistent allergic rhinitis: a multi-centre, randomised, controlled trial protocol.Trials · 2009Trial
- A pilot study of acupuncture as adjunctive treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2008Trial
- Acupuncture in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: a double-blind controlled pilot study.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2007Trial
- The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Preventing Radiation Pneumonitis in Patients With Lung Cancer: A Prospective, Single-Blinded, Randomized Pilot Proof-of-Principle Study.Integrative cancer therapiesTrial
45 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Acupuncture has a beneficial effect when treating many diseases and painful conditions, and therefore is thought to be useful as a complementary therapy or to replace generally accepted pharmacological intervention. The attributive effect of acupuncture has been investigated in inflammatory diseases, including asthma, rhinitis, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, epicondylitis, complex regional pain syndrome type 1 and vasculitis. Large randomised trials demonstrating the immediate and sustained effect of acupuncture are missing. Mechanisms underlying the ascribed immunosuppressive actions of acupuncture are reviewed in this communication. The acupuncture-controlled release of neuropeptides from nerve endings and subsequent vasodilative and anti-inflammatory effects through calcitonine gene-related peptide is hypothesised. The complex interactions with substance P, the analgesic contribution of beta-endorphin and the balance between cell-specific pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-10 are discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.