Acupuncture for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome:An Overview of Systematic Reviews

Objective To evaluate the quality of the existing studies and summarize evidence of important outcomes of meta-analyses/systematic reviews(MAs/SRs)of CFS.Methods Potentially eligible studies were searched in the following electronic databases from inception to 1 September,2019:Chinese Biomedical Literature Database(CBM),China Science and Technology Journal Database(VIP),China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),WanFang Database(WF),Web of Science,Embase,PubMed and Cochrane Library.Grades of Recommendation,Assessment,Development,and Evaluation(GRADE)was used to evaluate the quality of evidence.The methodological quality of the literature was evaluated by A Measure Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews-2(AMSTAR-2)and the quality of the report was assessed by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses(PRISMA).The intra-class correlation coefficient was used to assess the consistency of the reviewers,with an overall intraclass correlation coefficient score of 0.967.Results Ten MAs/SRs were included.The overall conclusions were that acupuncture had good safety and efficacy in the treatment of CFS,but some of these results were contradictory.The GRADE indicated that out of the 17 outcomes,high-quality evidence was provided in 0(0%),moderate in 3(17.65%),low in 10(58.82%),and very low in 4(23.53%).The results of AMSTAR-2 showed that the methodological quality of all included studies was critically low.The PRISMA statement revealed that 8 articles(80%)were in line with 20 of the 27-item checklist,and 2 articles(20%)matched with 10-19 of the 27 items.Conclusion We found that acupuncture on treating CFS has the advantage for efficacy and safety,but the quality of SRs/MAs of acupuncture for CFS need to be improved.

Effect of acupuncture plus medication on the pulmonary ventilation, IFN-y level and sleep quality in allergic rhinitis patients

Objective:To observe the effect of warm-unblocking acupuncture plus fluticasone propionate nasal spray on the pulmonary ventilation,level of interferon-y(IFN-y)and sleep quality in parents with allergic rhinitis(AR).Methods:A total of 112 AR patients were enrolled between January 2013 and August 2018 and were divided into an observation group and a control group by the random number table method,with 56 cases in each group.Patients in the observation group received warm-unblocking acupuncture plus fluticasone propionate nasal spray,and patients in the control group only received fluticasone propionate nasal spray.The nasal symptom score,pulmonary function indexes,the levels of IFN-y and interleukin(IL)-4 in serum,and sleep quality in the two groups were compared.Results:After treatment,the total effective rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group(P<0.05).The nasal symptom score dropped in both groups after treatment(both P<0.05),and the score in the observation group was lower than that in the con trol group(P<0.05).The pulm onary ven tilati on indexes all in creased sign ificantly after treatment in the observation group(all P<0.05);the forced expiratory volume in 1 second(FEV1)to forced vital capacity(FVC)ratio(FEV1/FVC)and the forced expiratory flow at 50%,75%and 25%-75%of the vital capacity(FEF50%,FEF75%,FEF25%-75%)in creased after treatme nt in the control group(all P<0.05);the pulm onary ven tilati on in dexes were higher in the observati on group tha n those in the control group(all P<0.05).The level of IFN-y in creased sign ificantly after t reatment in the two groups(both P<0.05)and the level of IL-4 dropped significantly(both P<0.05);the observation group had a higher IFN-y level(P<0.05)and a lower IL-4 level(P<0.05)compared with the control group.Regarding the Pittsburgh sleep quality index(PSQI),the scores of subjective sleep quality,habitual sleep efficiency and sleep disturbances and the general PSQI score decreased significantly after treatment in both groups(all P<0.05),and the scores in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group(all P<0.05).Conclusion:Warm-unblocking acupuncture plus fluticasone propionate nasal spray can effectively control the clinical symptoms and improve pulmonary function in the treatment of AR;this approach can regulate the levels of IFN-y and IL-4 towards the normal range in AR patients;it can also improve patient's sleep quality.This method can produce more significant efficacy than fluticasone propionate nasal spray used alone.