Acupuncture treatment modulates the resting-state functional connectivity of brain regions in migraine patients without aura.

Yong Zhang; Kuang-shi LI; Hong-wei Liu; Cai-hong FU; Sheng Chen; Zhong-jian Tan; Yi Ren

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Acupuncture treatment modulates the resting-state functional connectivity of brain regions in migraine patients without aura.

Author: Yong ZHANG ¹ ; Kuang-shi LI ¹ ; Hong-wei LIU ¹ ; Cai-hong FU ¹ ; Sheng CHEN ² ; Zhong-jian TAN ³ ; Yi REN ⁴
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1. Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, Dongzhimen Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China.
2. Department of Acupuncture, Dongzhimen Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China.
3. Department of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Dongzhimen Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China.
4. Department of Neurology and Stroke Center, Dongzhimen Hospital, the First Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China. rywendy1982@sina.com.
Publication Type:Clinical Trial
Keywords: acupuncture; functional connectivity; functional magnetic resonance imaging; migraine without aura; resting-state
MeSH: Acupuncture Therapy; Brain; physiopathology; Case-Control Studies; Demography; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Migraine without Aura; physiopathology; Nerve Net; physiopathology; Rest; Treatment Outcome
From: Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2016;22(4):293-301
CountryChina
Language:English
Abstract:
OBJECTIVETo investigate the modulatory effect of acupuncture treatment on the resting-state functional connectivity of brain regions in migraine without aura (MWoA) patients.
METHODSTwelve MWoA patients were treated with standard acupuncture treatment for 4 weeks. All MWoA patients received resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning before and after acupuncture treatment. Another 12 normal subjects matched in age and gender were recruited to serve as healthy controls. The changes of restingstate functional connectivity in MWoA patients before and after the acupuncture treatment and those with the healthy controls were compared.
RESULTSBefore acupuncture treatment, the MWoA patients had significantly decreased functional connectivity in certain brain regions within the frontal and temporal lobe when compared with the healthy controls. After acupuncture treatment, brain regions showing decreased functional connectivity revealed significant reduction in MWoA patients compared with before acupuncture treatment.
CONCLUSIONSAcupuncture treatment could increase the functional connectivity of brain regions in the intrinsic decreased brain networks in MWoA patients. The results provided further insights into the interpretation of neural mechanisms of acupuncture treatment for migraine.