Acupuncture-Related Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Narrative Review of Neuroimaging Studies

Abstract

Yuzhu Qu,1– 3,* Ying Peng,4,* Yan Xiong,5 Xiaohui Dong,3 Peihong Ma,6 Shirui Cheng2,3 1Post-Doctoral Scientific Research Workstation of Affiliated Sport Hospital, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 2Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 3Acupuncture and Brain Science Research Center, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 4Medical Aesthetics Department, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Osteoporosis, West China Fourth Hospital Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China; 6Medical Technology School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Shirui Cheng, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 1166 # Liutai Avenue, Chengdu, Sichuan, 611137, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Peihong Ma, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 10 # Poyanghu Road, Tuanpo Xincheng West District, Jinghai District, Tianjin, 301617, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Acupuncture has been widely applied for treating knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Numerous studies have found that acupuncture can effectively alleviate KOA symptoms. With the advancement of neuroimaging techniques, integrating neuroimaging with in-depth investigations of acupuncture mechanisms has emerged as a hot topic in traditional Chinese medical neuroscience research. This review aimed to analyze the study design and main findings from neuroimaging studies of acupuncture-related therapy for KOA to provide a reference for future research. Original studies were sourced from English databases (PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library) and Chinese databases (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, the Chongqing VIP database, and Wanfang database). As a result, thirteen articles were ultimately included in this review. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was the most frequently used neuroimaging technique to explore cerebral responses to acupuncture-related therapy for KOA. Findings suggested that acupuncture-related therapy could regulate some brain regions in patients with KOA. Specifically, for acupuncture, it showed that the medial pain pathway and the limbic system were involved in the regulation of KOA. Meanwhile, moxibustion induced a wide range of functional activity throughout the entire brain.Keywords: acupuncture-related therapy, knee osteoarthritis, cerebral response, neuroimaging study

Keywords

• acupuncture-related therapy
• knee osteoarthritis
• cerebral response
• neuroimaging study