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©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Efficacy of acupuncture at ghost points combined with fluoxetine in treating depression: A randomized study
Yi Wang, Yu-Wei Huang, Dilnur Ablikim, Qun Lu, Ai-Jia Zhang, Ye-Qing Dong, Fei-Cui Zeng, Jing-Hua Xu, Wen Wang, Zhi-Hai Hu
Yi Wang, Yu-Wei Huang, Ai-Jia Zhang, Jing-Hua Xu, Wen Wang, Zhi-Hai Hu, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shanghai TCM-Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China
Dilnur Ablikim, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
Qun Lu, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Shanghai TCM-Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200082, China
Ye-Qing Dong, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiangwan Hospital, Shanghai 200081, China
Fei-Cui Zeng, Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200081, China
Author contributions: Wang Y, Huang YW and Hu ZH designed the experiment; Wang Y and Huang YW used the work, Dilnur A, Lu Q and Zhang AJ, and Dong YQ collected data; Zeng FC, Xu JH and Wang W analyzed and interpreted data, and articles written by Wang Y, Huang YW and Hu ZH.
Supported by Shanghai Science and Technology Commission TCM Guidance Project, No. 19401935500; Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Budget Scientific Research Project, No. 2020LK079; and Medical Innovation Research Special General Project of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission, No. 21Y11923500.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Shanghai TCM-Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
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: Zhi-Hai Hu, Doctor, Chief Physician, Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Shanghai TCM-Integrated Hospital, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 230 Baoding Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai 200082, China. zhh1708@hotmail.com
Received: November 16, 2021
Peer-review started: November 16, 2021
First decision: December 9, 2021
Revised: December 11, 2021
Accepted: December 25, 2021
Article in press: December 25, 2021
Published online: January 21, 2022
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background
Depression affects more than 350 million people worldwide. In China, 4.2% (54 million people) of the total population suffers from depression.
Research motivation
This study provided data reference for the treatment of depression.
Research objectives
This study explored the effect of acupuncture at ghost points combined with fluoxetine on clinical indicators of depression and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) parameters in patients with mild to moderate depression.
Research methods
They were divided into acupuncture group (acupuncture at ghost points combined with fluoxetine) and fluoxetine group (fluoxetine alone) with 80 cases in each group.
Research results
The acupuncture group was better than the fluoxetine group.
Research conclusions
Acupuncture at ghost points combined with fluoxetine is more effective than fluoxetine.
Research perspectives
The combined use of acupuncture at ghost points and fluoxetine may be more effective than fluoxetine alone for the treatment of patients with mild to moderate depression.
