ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2019
Anatomical Evidence of Acupuncture Meridians in the Human Extracellular Matrix: Results from a Macroscopic and Microscopic Interdisciplinary Multicentre Study on Human Corpses.
Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Objective Evidence for Mind-body Interventions: Selective Modulation of Meridian-wise Bioelectrical Conductance by Yogic Practices.Annals of African medicine · 2026Article
- Acupressure for anxiety: a pilot study of a nurse-led acupressure intervention for patients receiving chemotherapy.The oncologist · 2026Article
- From Physiological Spaces to Cognitive Health: A New Perspective on Combined Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Alzheimer's Disease.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Portable devices for periodic monitoring of bioelectrical impedance along meridian pathways in healthy individuals.Biomedical engineering online · 2025Article
- How tapping works: physiological and psychological mechanisms in energy psychology.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Review
- Stimuli-evoked NOergic molecules and neuropeptides at acupuncture points and the gracile nucleus contribute to signal transduction of propagated sensation along the meridian through the dorsal medulla-thalamic pathways.Journal of integrative medicine · 2024Review
- Anatomical Exploration of the KI1 Acupoint: Implications for Medial and Lateral Plantar Nerve Stimulation.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- [CAM procedures in pain therapy: an evidence-based discourse is needed].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2023Article
- [Scientific shortcomings in the CME article on complementary medicine in pain therapy].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2023Article
- In Vivo Visualization of the Pericardium Meridian with Fluorescent Dyes.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- A critical examination of the main premises of Traditional Chinese Medicine.Wiener klinische Wochenschrift · 2020Review
- Clinical Events Associated with Acupuncture Intervention for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammation Associated Disorders.Mediators of inflammation · 2020Review
- Fascial neuromodulation: an emerging concept linking acupuncture, fasciology, osteopathy and neuroscience.European journal of translational myology · 2019Article
- Traditional Acupuncture Meets Modern Nanotechnology: Opportunities and Perspectives.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
For more than 2500 years, acupuncture has been applied to support the healing of different diseases and physiologic malfunctions. Although various theories of the meridian system and mechanisms were formulated to explain the functional basis of acupuncture, the anatomical basis for the concept of meridians has not been resolved. The aim of the present study was to search for replicable anatomical structures that could relate to meridians. To this end, four human specimens and additionally two lower legs were dissected anatomically. Our study found evidence that acupuncture meridians were part of the human extracellular matrix and that fascia was an important part of the anatomic substrate of acupuncture meridians. At the same time, we found vessel-nerve-bundles, which were hypothesized to account for 80% of acupuncture points, only in a few acupuncture points. Therefore, our findings contradict the theory that acupuncture points are only located along the nervous channels.
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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.