Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41999225›Full record

Trial reportFASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology2026

GABRB3 Gene Polymorphisms Influences the Analgesic Response to Acupuncture Treatment in Patients With Chronic Knee Pain: A Randomized Controlled Neuroimaging Transcriptomics Study.

Sai Wu, Wanxia Wu, Jun Zhou, Shirui Cheng, Xiaohui Dong, Yang Chen, Chenjian Tang, Wenhua He, Fang Zeng, Fanrong Liang and 1 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

11 authors.

Sai WuAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0147-9669
Wanxia WuAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Jun ZhouAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Shirui ChengAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Xiaohui DongAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Yang ChenAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Chenjian TangAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Wenhua HeAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Fang ZengAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Fanrong LiangAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
Zhengjie LiAcupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Funding

MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 81774400MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 81973958MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 82474657SPDST | Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of Sichuan Province () 2025NSFJQ0056
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The mechanisms underlying individual variability in acupuncture analgesia among patients with chronic pain remain unclear. This randomized controlled trial investigated the core mechanisms of differential responses to acupuncture from genetic, neuroimaging, and transcriptomic perspectives in patients with chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis (KOA). A total of 180 KOA chronic knee pain patients were randomly assigned to verum acupuncture (VA), sham acupuncture (SA), celecoxib (SC), placebo (PB), or waiting list (WL) groups (36 each). Over 2 weeks, VA/SA received 10 sessions, SC/PB oral medication for 14 days, and WL no intervention. Baseline 3.0T MRI 3D-T1 scans and genotyping (GABRB3 rs4906902, OPRM1 rs1799971, COMT rs4680, BDNF rs6265) were performed. Efficacy was assessed via VAS and WOMAC; responders/non-responders were defined by minimally clinically important difference. Chi-square test, logistic regression, voxel-based morphometry (VBM), and Allen Human Brain Atlas-based partial least squares regression were used. No significant difference in primary outcomes was observed between VA and SA, so they were combined as the acupuncture group (AG) to enhance statistical power. Only AG had a significant association between GABRB3 rs4906902 AG/GG genotype and acupuncture response (p < 0.05); other loci showed no correlation. AG/GG carriers in AG had lower gray matter volume in caudate head, putamen, and ventral striatum, with higher GABRB3 expression in these regions. Genetic polymorphisms at GABRB3 rs4906902 could influence the analgesic effect of acupuncture treatment in patients with KOA chronic knee pain, with AG/GG genotype carriers exhibiting superior analgesic effects. This finding may be associated with pain-modulating brain regions' gray matter volume reduction and upregulation of GABRB3 gene expression.

Indexed as

Acupuncture TherapyChronic PainOsteoarthritis, KneePolymorphism, Single NucleotideReceptors, GABA-AAgedFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedNeuroimagingTranscriptomeTreatment Effect HeterogeneityReceptors, GABA-Aacupuncturechronic painGABRB3 rs4906902 genegene polymorphismknee osteoarthritisneuroimaging transcriptomics

Identifiers

PMID41999225
PMCPMC13091185

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.