Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40842166›Full record

ArticleBrain and behavior2025

Comprehensive Transcriptomic Analysis of Brain Tissues From the Infarcted Area of MCAO Rats Revealed That Acupuncture Attenuates Brain Injury via the Complement System.

Yanlin Liu, Yuting Jin, Yuxin Liu, Jiaqi Gao, Xiaomei Wang, Hongbin Ren, Yabo Hao, Xibin Yang, Kaitao Luo

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain and behavior, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

9 authors.

Yanlin LiuAcupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6076-7998
Yuting JinThird Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Yuxin LiuThird Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Jiaqi GaoThird Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Xiaomei WangAcupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.
Hongbin RenAcupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.
Yabo HaoAcupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.
Xibin YangAcupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.
Kaitao LuoAcupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.

Funding

Jiaxing City Science and Technology Bureau project 2024AD30075Jiaxing City Science and Technology Bureau project 2024AY40004Jiaxing Key Laboratory of Integrated traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Rehabilitation Research on Cerebrovascular Diseases 2022(38)Zhejiang Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Plan Project 2023ZL177Zhejiang Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Plan Project 2025ZL568Zhejiang Provincial Society of Rehabilitation Medicine Special Research Fund Project ZKKY2023007
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis research focused on investigating acupuncture's effect on brain injury in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats and elucidating its potential mechanisms, with a focus on transcriptomic and protein-level changes related to the complement system, which may be involved in acupuncture's therapeutic effects.

methodsAn MCAO rat model was established and treated with acupuncture. Brain tissue from the infarct area was analyzed through RNA sequencing, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses, followed by qRT-PCR and western blot validation of key complement-related genes.

resultsA total of 1792 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the MCAO and acupuncture groups. Of these, 254 hub genes were associated with acupuncture's therapeutic effects. Seven complement-related genes (C1QA, C1QB, C1QC, C2, C6, C7, and TREM2) were significantly downregulated by acupuncture. Functional enrichment revealed that these genes were involved in the inflammatory response, coagulation cascades, blood‒brain barrier regulation, and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation.

conclusionOur findings suggest that acupuncture alleviates stroke-induced brain injury by modulating key components of the complement system and associated inflammatory pathways. These results provide mechanistic insights supporting the use of acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for poststroke neuroinflammation.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyBrain InjuriesComplement System ProteinsInfarction, Middle Cerebral ArteryAnimalsBrainDisease Models, AnimalGene Expression ProfilingMaleRatsRats, Sprague-DawleyTranscriptomeComplement System ProteinsacupuncturebioinformaticsinflammationMCAO ratsstroketranscriptomics

Identifiers

PMID40842166
PMCPMC12370833

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.