Objectives : The purpose of this study is to review the acupuncture treatment for cold hypersensitivity of hands and feet. Methods : We searched articles in 7 search engines with keywords related to 'Cold hypersensitivity of hands and feet' and 'Raynaud disease' in March 2021. Clinical studies that used acupuncture for cold hypersensitivity of hands or feet were included. Animal studies and nonclinical data were excluded. Data on acupuncture treatment such as methods, site, duration, frequency, and period were analyzed. Also, network analysis between acupoints was conducted. Results : Of 41 selected articles, there were 32 case reports, 7 randomized controlled trials, and 2 uncontrolled clinical studies. Studies were conducted using manual acupuncture, electroacupuncture, warm needling, pharmacopuncture, fire needling, and auricular acupuncture. Most studies used more than one acupoint (n=40), and there were 111 acupoints selected for acupuncture treatment for cold hypersensitivity of hands and feet. The most commonly used acupoint was LI11 (n=27). In terms of the correlation of acupoints, LI11 had the highest value of degree centrality at 0.6989. The mean treatment time, number of treatments, and duration were 26.8±8.87 minutes, 15.51±15.75 times, and 77.69±132.80 days. Conclusions : The results of this study could be useful in establishing the evidence for performing standardized acupuncture treatment for cold hypersensitivity of hands and feet.

Objectives : The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of acupuncture and the details of acupuncture treatment methods on skin wrinkles. Methods : Search was conducted in Pubmed, KISS, and NDSL databases for acupuncture studies on skin wrinkles. The detailed therapeutic techniques of acupuncture used for skin wrinkles and the effect of acupuncture on skin wrinkle improvement were analyzed. Then, the study results using the same indicator were compared through meta-analysis in order to compare the effects of acupuncture with the control group. The quality of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was assessed using the risk of bias (ROB) assessment tool (Ver. 1.0, Cochrane Collaboration). Results : A total of 10 RCTs and 19 case series were included in this study. The most frequently used therapeutic technique for skin wrinkle improvement was Microneedle therapy system (MTS, n=19), and they were mostly used with aesthetic solutions (13 out of 19 studies). Skin wrinkle related indexes were most commonly used to evaluate skin wrinkle improvement (n=14). Panax Ginseng pharmacopuncture showed the most remarkable effect in improving the range of skin wrinkles and the depth of skin wrinkles. MTS+epidermal growth factor improved the levels of skin hydration, skin elasticity, and variation of skin pigment the most. MTS+Endothelial precursor cell improved the number of skin melanin the most. Three RCTs included in the meta-analysis showed moderate ROB on average. Conclusions : Acupuncture treatment was effective in improving skin wrinkles. However, a precise study design using unified indicators and appropriate controls needs to be performed in further studies in order to establish more convincing evidence of the effectiveness of acupuncture for improving skin wrinkles.

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to analyze animal behavioral changes and related neurobiological mechanisms in recent studies using animal models with pain and depression. Methods : We conducted database search in Pubmed, NDSL, and EMBASE up to January 2021. Included studies were classified as depression-like behavior observed in pain model, pain-like behavior observed in depression model, and pain and depression comorbidity model. The results of pain- and depression-like behaviors, the changes of neurobiological mechanisms, and the treatment methods such as drugs, natural substance-derived chemicals, or acupuncture were analyzed. Results : We included 124 studies (81 studies in depression-like behavior observed in pain model, 19 studies in pain-like behavior observed in depression model, and 24 studies in pain and depression comorbidity model). Pain and depression comorbidity animal models were induced using various methods by drugs or surgery. Von frey test, a method for evaluating mechanical allodynia was the most commonly used for measuring pain-like behavior and the forced swimming test was the most commonly used for measuring depression-likes behavior. The changes of neurobiological factors, such as decrease of 5-hydroxytryptamine and increase of oxidative stress and pro-inflammation cytokines were generally changed in the frontal cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and spinal cord in all types of models. For treating pain and depression-like behaviors, various types of drugs such as antidepressant, tranquilizer, analgesic, and natural substance-derived chemicals were used. Acupuncture treatment was used in 4 studies. Conclusions : In the future, more diverse studies on the combined model of pain and depression need to be conducted. In addition, it is necessary to establish a mechanistic basis for the development of various treatments by identifying the common mechanisms of pain and depression.

Objectives : Source acupoint is one of the representative acupoints to treat various diseases in each meridian. We aimed to identify the patterns of selection of Source acupoints and their associations with diseases using clinical trials data. Methods : We extracted the frequency of Source acupoints across 30 diseases from clinical trials database. Acupuncture treatment regimens were retrieved from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. The frequency of Source acupoint use was calculated as the number of studies using a certain acupoint divided by the total number of included studies. Using hierarchical clustering and multidimensional scaling, the characteristics of Source acupoints were analyzed based on the similarity of the relationships between the Source acupoints and the diseases. Results : A total of 421 clinical trials were included for this analysis. LR3, HT7, KI3, and LI4 acupoints were most frequently used for the treatment of 30 diseases. Cluster analysis showed that LR3 and LI4 acupoints were grouped together and HT7 and KI3 acupoints were grouped together. Multidimensional scaling revealed that LR3, LI4, HT7, and KI3 acupoints have intrinsic properties in the two-dimensional space. Conclusions : The present study identified the selection patterns of the Source acupoints using clinical trials data. Our finding will provide the understanding of the characteristics of Source acupoints.