Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35185461›Full record

SynthesisFrontiers in neuroscience2022

Plausible Mechanism of Sham Acupuncture Based on Biomarkers: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Tae-Hun Kim, Myeong Soo Lee, Stephen Birch, Terje Alraek

Open access · goldAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
26citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
12.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

26 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. When sng meets acupuncture -- a paradigm-shift biomarker for translational research.Journal of traditional and complementary medicine · 2025
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Tae-Hun KimKorean Medicine Clinical Trial Center, Korean Medicine Hospital, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
Myeong Soo LeeKM Science Research Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea.
Stephen BirchSchool of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway.
Terje AlraekSchool of Health Sciences, Kristiania University College, Oslo, Norway.
Høyskolen Kristiania · NOKorea Institute of Oriental Medicine · KRKyung Hee University · KR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionSham acupuncture was developed to be used as an inert control intervention in clinical trials of acupuncture. However, controversies exist regarding the validity of sham acupuncture. In this systematic review (SR) of acupuncture trials, we assessed whether serum biomarkers showed significant differences after sham and verum acupuncture treatments.

methodsAny acupuncture clinical trials that evaluated serum biomarker changes between sham acupuncture and verum acupuncture were included in this review. Relevant literature was searched in the PubMed database, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) database from inception until June 2021. The Cochrane risk of bias was assessed. Summary effect estimates for each biomarker between groups were calculated with a random effect model.

resultsFrom 51 sham acupuncture trials, we found that there were no significant differences in most of the 36 serum biomarkers after sham acupuncture and verum acupuncture needling. Only VEGF, IG-E, TNF-a, NGF, GABA, NPY, and VIP serum levels were identified as being different between the groups. The overall risk of bias of the included studies and the limited numbers of studies for meta-analysis do not strongly support the results of this SR.

conclusionSham acupuncture techniques might have similar effects on biomarkers as the so-called "real acupuncture" techniques, which indicates that sham acupuncture, as an inert intervention similar to a placebo drug, needs to be reconsidered. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW PROSPERO REGISTRATION: identifier [CRD42021260889].

Indexed as

acupuncture mechanismbiomarkersmeta-analysissham acupuncturesystematic review

Identifiers

PMID35185461
PMCPMC8850388
OpenAlexW4210514750

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.