Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Jul 26, 2025; 17(7): 105371
Published online Jul 26, 2025. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i7.105371
Combining acupuncture and mesenchymal stem cell therapy offers promise as a treatment for inflammatory bowel disease
Wei-Gang Ma, Yu-Xin Si, Yong-Long Zhang, Wei-Fang Gao, Yu-Ge Dong, Yan-Qi Li, Zhi-Fang Xu, Qiang Xi, Zhong-Zheng Li
Wei-Gang Ma, Yu-Xin Si, Yong-Long Zhang, Wei-Fang Gao, Yu-Ge Dong, Zhi-Fang Xu, Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Yan-Qi Li, Qiang Xi, Department of Clinical Practice, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China
Zhong-Zheng Li, Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Acupuncture and Tuina, Tianjin 301617, China
Co-first authors: Wei-Gang Ma and Yu-Xin Si.
Author contributions: Ma WG and Si YX contributed to the conceptualization; Ma WG wrote original draft; Zhang YL, Gao WF, and Dong YG participated in the investigation of this manuscript; Li YQ and Xi Q contributed to visualization; Xu ZF and Li ZZ participated in the review & editing of this article. Ma WG and Si YX contributed equally to this work as co-first authors of this manuscript.
Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 82174524.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Zhong-Zheng Li, Associate Professor, Research Center of Experimental Acupuncture Science, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Acupuncture and Tuina, No. 10 Poyanghu Road, West Area, Tuanbo New Town, Jinghai District, Tianjin 301617, China. lizhzh2008@163.com
Received: January 20, 2025
Revised: March 25, 2025
Accepted: June 20, 2025
Published online: July 26, 2025
Processing time: 185 Days and 18.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This paper analyzes and summarizes previous studies and suggests that acupuncture combined with stem cell transplantation may be more effective than monotherapy in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and ensure safety. A systematic description of the possible mechanisms of action is provided to support the feasibility of this method.