ArticleFrontiers in neurology2021
Acupuncture Enhances Dorsal Raphe Functional Connectivity in Knee Osteoarthritis With Chronic Pain.
Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Functional brain alterations associated with acupuncture for chronic pain: a scoping review of fMRI studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with acupuncture therapy on brain network functional connectivity in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a single-center randomized controlled trial.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Trial
- Modulatory effects of acupuncture on raphe nucleus-related brain circuits in patients with chronic neck pain: A randomized neuroimaging trial.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2024Trial
- Does Injection Number Matter? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Bladder Botox for Overactive Bladder.International urogynecology journal · 2026Review
- Cerebral blood flow alterations and machine learning classification in chronic low back pain using multi-PLD ASL radiomics.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Review
- Potential mechanisms of acupuncture in regulating neuroinflammation and central sensitization in chronic pain: a narrative review of preclinical, clinical, and translational evidence.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- Precision connectivity in osteoarthritis pain with permutation and network analysis: a key step toward clinical application.BMC medical imaging · 2025Article
- Precision Connectivity in Arthritis Pain with Permutation and Network Analysis: A Key Step Toward Clinical Application.Research square · 2025Article
- Advances in Electroacupuncture for Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis: Mechanisms, Efficacy, and Future Directions.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- The Efficacy and Brain Network Mechanism of Acupuncture for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Study Protocol for Randomized Controlled Neuroimaging Trial.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Exploration of Key Brain Regions Involved in Acupuncture and Moxibustion Analgesia: An Imaging-Based Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture Alleviates Memory Deficits in APP/PS1 Mice by Targeting Serotonergic Neurons in Dorsal Raphe Nucleus.Current medical science · 2024Article
- Role of the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus in Pain Processing.Brain sciences · 2024Review
- Effect of Traditional Chinese Non-Pharmacological Therapies on Knee Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review of Clinical Application and Mechanism.Orthopedic research and reviews · 2024Review
- Altered Brain Functional and Effective Connectivity Induced by Electroacupuncture in Rats Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Transection.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Acupuncture-Related Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Journal of pain research · 2024Review
- Structural and functional brain changes in people with knee osteoarthritis: a scoping review.PeerJ · 2023Article
- Acupuncture decreases amygdala functional connectivity in subjective tinnitus.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Periaqueductal gray connectivity in spinal cord injury-induced neuropathic pain.Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of NeuroimagingArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionKnee osteoarthritis is a common disease in the elderly. Patients suffer from long-term chronic pain and reduced life quality. Acupuncture has been proven to be an effective treatment for KOA. However, the neural mechanism of acupuncture is unclear, so far. Periaqueductal gray (PAG) and raphe nuclei (RPN) are essential structures associated with chronic pain in human brains. This study aims to investigate functional connectivity (FC) changes of PAG and RPN in KOA to interpret the neural mechanism of acupuncture.
methodsIn 15 patients with KOA and 15 healthy controls (HC), we acquired Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores and resting-state fMRI images of each participant before and after acupuncture stimulation on EX-LE5 acupoint. Then, PAG and RPN were selected as seeds to perform FC analysis based on resting-state fMRI images. Finally, we compared FC patterns of PAG and RPN between patients with KOA and HC, then between pre-acupuncture and post-acupuncture. Correlations between FC values and VAS scores were calculated as well.
resultsFor PAG, FC of patients with KOA was lower in the right lingual gyrus at post-acupuncture compared with HC ( DISCUSSION: Our study demonstrated that acupuncture enhanced FC between dorsal RPN and the right putamen in patients with KOA, which was associated with chronic pain intensity. This result suggests that acupuncture stimulation can enhance FC between dorsal raphe and striatum, illustrating a neural mechanism that acupuncture can drive the patients' brain, with KOA, to perceive pain.
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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.