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Investigation of Therapeutic Response Markers for Acupuncture in Parkinson's Disease: An Exploratory Pilot Study.

ABSTRACT: In this preliminary pilot study, we investigated the specific genes implicated in the therapeutic response to acupuncture in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Transcriptome alterations following acupuncture in blood samples collected during our previous clinical trial were analyzed along with the clinical data of six patients with PD, of which a representative patient was selected for transcriptomic analysis following acupuncture. We also examined the changes in the expression of PD biomarker genes known to be dysregulated in both the brain and blood of patients with PD. We validated these gene expression changes using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) in the blood of the remaining five patients with PD who received acupuncture treatment. Following acupuncture treatment, the transcriptomic alterations in the representative patient were similar to those induced by dopaminergic therapy. Among the PD biomarkers, ankyrin repeat domain 22 (ANKRD22), upregulated following dopaminergic therapy, and synapsin 1 (SYN1), a common gene marker for synaptic dysfunction in PD, were upregulated following acupuncture. These alterations correlated with changes in gait parameters in patients with PD. Our data suggest ANKRD22 and SYN1 as potential biomarkers to predict/monitor therapeutic responses to acupuncture in patients with PD, especially in those with gait disturbance. Further research is needed to confirm these findings in a large sample of patients with PD.

SUBMITTER: Park S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8468821 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The aim of this study was to compare the short-term and intermediate-term efficacy of acupuncture plus fire needle therapy with that of acupuncture alone in the treatment of lateral epicondylitis (LE). METHODS:Thirty-eight patients with LE who had persisted for at least 2 months were enrolled in this prospective, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled pilot trial. Twenty-one patients were randomized to the acupuncture plus fire needle group and 17 to the acupuncture-only group. The primary outcome was the visual analog scale pain score for the previous 24?hours and the secondary outcomes were the maximum grip strength, Patient-rated Forearm Evaluation Questionnaire score, and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-form Health Survey score. The values at baseline (pretreatment), at the end of treatment, and at 3 months after treatment were used to assess the short-term and intermediate-term effects of treatment. The data were analyzed using the Chi-square test and t test. RESULTS:Within-group analyses showed better results for acupuncture plus fire needle therapy in the short term and intermediate term. Differences in the severity of pain and secondary outcomes were significant in the intermediate term in the acupuncture group. At the end of treatment, none of the differences in outcome scores were significant, except for maximum grip strength in the affected hand in the acupuncture group. No significant between-group differences in short-term or intermediate-term outcomes were observed. CONCLUSION:Acupuncture plus fire needle therapy was effective in the short term in patients seeking improvement of LE. Twelve treatments were effective for relieving pain and improving disability in the intermediate term in patients with chronic LE in both study groups. The findings of the pilot study confirm the feasibility of proceeding to a larger randomized controlled study of the longer-term effects of acupuncture plus fire needle therapy in patients with LE.

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Investigation of Therapeutic Response Markers for Acupuncture in Parkinson's Disease: An Exploratory Pilot Study.

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