ArticleJournal of nanobiotechnology2024
The combination of modified acupuncture needle and melittin hydrogel as a novel therapeutic approach for rheumatoid arthritis treatment.
Article in Journal of nanobiotechnology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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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.
- Natural Bioactive Compounds in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Experimental Evidence from Adjuvant Arthritis Model Supporting Combination Strategies with Methotrexate.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Polysaccharide-Based Approaches for Inflammation Treatment: Anti-Inflammatory Mechanisms, Delivery Approaches and Translational Prospects.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- From Toxin to Therapy: Biomedical Applications of Bee Venom in Cancer, Diabetes, and Neurodegenerative Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Smart Hydrogel for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Thermosensitive Chitosan/Gelatin Hydrogels in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine: A Prospective Review on Modernizing Acupoint Embedding.Gels (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Targeted immunomodulation for chronic diseases through advanced delivery platforms.Expert opinion on drug delivery · 2026Review
- Oral administration of probiotic colony-like micro-nano system for immunoregulation of rheumatoid arthritis.Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B · 2026Article
- Melittin-Loaded FeInternational journal of nanomedicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Neuroinflammation-informed neuroimaging-transcriptomic signatures explaining acupuncture's therapeutic effects in chronic insomnia.Chinese medicine · 2025Article
- Advances in Intra-Articular Injection Hydrogel Drug Delivery Systems in the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Advances in Medical Devices for Augmented Acupuncture Therapy.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Review
- Acupuncture-induced pain relief and anti-inflammatory effects in chronic pelvic inflammatory disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.American journal of translational research · 2025Review
- Recent advances in injectable hydrogels for osteoarthritis treatments.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) involves chronic joint inflammation. Combining acupuncture and medication for RA treatment faces challenges like spatiotemporal variability, limited drug loading in acupuncture needles, and premature or untargeted drug release. Here, we designed a new type of tubular acupuncture needles, with an etched hollow honeycomb-like structure to enable the high loading of therapeutics, integrating the traditional acupuncture and drug repository into an all-in-one therapeutic platform. In these proof-of-concept experiments, we fabricated injectable hollow honeycomb electroacupuncture needles (HC-EA) loaded with melittin hydrogel (MLT-Gel), enabling the combination treatment of acupuncture stimulation and melittin therapy in a spatiotemporally synchronous manner. Since the RA microenvironment is mildly acidic, the acid-responsive chitosan (CS)/sodium beta-glycerophosphate (β-GP)/ hyaluronic acid (HA) composited hydrogel (CS/GP/HA) was utilized to perform acupuncture stimulation and achieve the targeted release of injected therapeutics into the specific lesion site. Testing our therapeutic platform involved a mouse model of RA and bioinformatics analysis. MLT-Gel@HC-EA treatment restored Th17/Treg-mediated immunity balance, reduced inflammatory factor release (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β), and alleviated inflammation at the lesion site. This novel combination of modified acupuncture needle and medication, specifically melittin hydrogel, holds promise as a therapeutic strategy for RA treatment.
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Registered trials
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