Clinical Practice Guideline for Allergic Rhinitis Treatment with Acupuncture.

With reference to international guidelines for the development of tools-Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system approach and reasoning, this practice guideline has been drafted reflecting the characteristics of acupuncture to improve effectiveness and safety of acupuncture treatment for allergic rhinitis. This guideline includes outlining the acupuncture diagnosis and treatment principles for allergic rhinitis, suggesting recommendations and related evidence for the acupuncture treatment of allergic rhinitis, and defining operating methods and precautions for the acupuncture treatment of allergic rhinitis.

Impact of acupuncture for allergic rhinitis on the activity of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Patients with moderate and severe persistent allergic rhinitis (AR) have long-term physical and mental stress, leading to dysfunction of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which results in recurrence of AR. Previous research has proved acupuncture can regulate the function of the neuron-endocrine-immune system and contribute to improving the quality of life of patients with AR. This research aims to investigate the mechanism of acupuncture on the HPA axis in patients with moderate or severe persistent AR. METHODS/DESIGN: This randomized controlled trial aims to study the impact of acupuncture on the HPA axis of patients with moderate and severe AR. This research also aims to compare the curative effects of different treatments in three groups of patients: those receiving western medicine, western medicine and conventional acupuncture, or western medicine and mind-regulating acupuncture. We will study the therapeutic effect of acupuncture and the correlation between the changes of therapeutic indexes and experimental indexes after the treatments. Therapeutic indexes include the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) of nasal symptoms and the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) for AR patients; experimental indexes include corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH), adreno-corticotropic hormone (ACTH), cortisol (CORT), interleukin 4 (IL-4), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). DISCUSSION: The results of this trial will provide evidence for the influence of chronic, long-term, repeated stimulation in patients with moderate and severe persistent AR and the impact of acupuncture on the HPA axis of these patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Acupuncture-Moxibustion Clinical Trial Registry, AMCTR-IOR-16000009 . Registered on 22 August 2016.

Infrared thermal imaging-based research on the intermediate structures of the lung and large intestine exterior-interior relationship in asthma patients.

OBJECTIVE: By observing body surface temperature variation of the intermediate structures of the Lung (Fei) and Large Intestine (Dachang) exterior-interior relationship in asthmatic patients, to investigate the pathological response on the pathway of channels and to substantiate the objective existence of the intermediary structures. METHODS: The study included 60 subjects meeting the bronchial asthma inclusion criteria (experimental group) and 60 healthy subjects (normal control group). ATIR-M301 infrared thermal imaging device was used for detecting body surface temperature of the subjects and collecting the infrared thermal images. The temperature values of the intermediate structures of Lung and Large Intestine exterior-interior relationship [throat, Quepen, elbow, nose, Lieque (LU 7), Pianli (LI 6)], control areas (0.2 cm lateral to the above structures) and Yintang (EX-HN 3) were measured on the infrared thermal image by infrared imaging system. Then, the above temperature values were compared and analyzed within and between two groups. RESULTS: There were insignificant differences between the temperature on the left and right sides of the intermediate structures (Quepen, elbow, LU 7, LI 6) in normal control group (P>0.05). Except for that of Quepen, there were insignifificant differences between the temperature of the intermediate structures and their corresponding control areas in normal control group (P>0.05). In the experimental group, the temperature on the left and right sides of the intermediate structures (Quepen, elbow, LU 7, LI 6) showed statistically signifificant differences (P<0.05 or P<0.01); the temperature difference between intermediate structure (throat, Quepen, elbow, nose, LI 6) and their respective control areas were also significant (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The temperature of the intermediate structures (throat, Quepen, elbow, LU7, LI 6) between the experimental group and normal control group showed signifificant differences (P<0.05 or P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study is an initial step to validate the objective existence of Lung and Large Intestine exterior-interior relationship intermediate structures, as described in the Chinese classical medical literatures, through the functional imaging angle. The intermediate structures are the pathological reaction areas of the bronchial asthmatic patients.

Effectiveness of moxibustion for allergic rhinitis: protocol for a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The objective of this review is to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of moxibustion for treating allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The following databases will be searched from their inception to January 2015: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Web of Science, Ovid Healthstar, PubMed, SciELO, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, the Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Technology Periodical Database, the Chinese Biomedical Database, the Wanfang Database, the Japanese Medical Research Database, and Korean Medical Databases. The methodological quality will be assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. The primary outcome is total nasal symptoms, which may be evaluated by any appropriate scores or other forms of measurement. Secondary outcome measures will include quality of life, total non-nasal symptoms, use of daily medication and laboratory indicators. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Because this study will not involve patients, institutional review body permission is not required. The systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. The review will also be disseminated electronically and in print to help guide healthcare practice and policy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42014013275.

Disease location identification as a major guide to acupoint selection.

Selecting acupoints according to channel pathway is the major point selection principle in acupuncture treatment for which there is a consensus. However, defining the disease location remains the premise of acupoint selection based on channel pathway. What is the substance of disease location identification in clinical acupuncture? Besides indicating acupoint selection according to channel pathway, what guidance can it provide for acupuncture treatment? This is the main topic discussed in this article.

Appraisal of the Deqi Concept among Contemporary Chinese Acupuncturists.

Deqi, an important component of the traditional theory of acupuncture and moxibustion, is the key factor in determining clinical therapeutic effect of acupuncture. In this paper, based on the digging up, arrangement, and in-depth analysis of the famous contemporary Chinese acupuncturists' perspectives of deqi, the authors summarize the concept and manifestation, as well as the properties of deqi, and correlativity of deqi with acupuncture manipulation through reviewing modern clinical research. Proposals for more scientific and standardized acupuncture research are introduced to reexamine and restore the implication of deqi in combination with the clinical practice.