Zhang Jinhuan, Liu Yongfeng, Li Zihan, Hu Qingmao, Huang Xingxian, Lv Hanqing, Xu Jinping, Yu Haibo
The Fourth Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, China.
Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
Front Neurosci. 2023 Jun 9;17:1180434. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1180434. eCollection 2023.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been widely used to investigate the brain effect of acupuncture point Stomach 36 (ST36, Zusanli). However, inconsistent results have hindered our understanding of the neural mechanisms of acupuncture at ST36.
To perform a meta-analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture at ST36 to assess the brain atlas of acupuncture at ST36 from available studies.
Based on a preregistered protocol in PROSPERO (CRD42019119553), a large set of databases was searched up to August 9, 2021, without language restrictions. Peak coordinates were extracted from clusters that showed significant signal differences before and after acupuncture treatment. A meta-analysis was performed using seed-based d mapping with permutation of subject images (SDM-PSI), a newly improved meta-analytic method.
A total of 27 studies (27 ST36) were included. This meta-analysis found that ST36 could activate the left cerebellum, the bilateral Rolandic operculum, the right supramarginal gyrus, and the right cerebellum. Functional characterizations showed that acupuncture at ST36 was mainly associated with action and perception.
Our results provide a brain atlas for acupuncture at ST36, which, besides offering a better understanding of the underlying neural mechanisms, also provides the possibility of future precision therapies.
功能磁共振成像（fMRI）已被广泛用于研究足三里穴（ST36）的脑效应。然而，结果不一致阻碍了我们对ST36针刺神经机制的理解。
对ST36针刺的fMRI研究进行荟萃分析，以从现有研究中评估ST36针刺的脑图谱。
基于PROSPERO（CRD42019119553）中预先注册的方案，检索了截至2021年8月9日的大量数据库，无语言限制。从针刺治疗前后显示出显著信号差异的簇中提取峰值坐标。使用基于种子的d映射与受试者图像置换（SDM-PSI）进行荟萃分析，这是一种新改进的荟萃分析方法。
共纳入27项研究（27个ST36）。该荟萃分析发现，ST36可激活左侧小脑、双侧中央沟盖、右侧缘上回和右侧小脑。功能特征表明，ST36针刺主要与动作和感知相关。
我们的结果提供了ST36针刺的脑图谱，这除了有助于更好地理解潜在的神经机制外，还为未来的精准治疗提供了可能性。
