Purpose PSD is a syndrome that occurs after a stroke, which manifests as a series of depressive symptoms and corresponding physiological symptoms. Relevant studies have shown that the drug therapy is often accompanied by drug side effects and patient resistance. Acupuncture has attracted attention as a treatment method without adverse reactions of patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible mechanism of action of acupuncture in PSD. Patients and Methods Download depression and stroke datasets from public databases. Bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the key gene targets related to stroke and depression. Functional enrichment analysis assesses important pathways. Further screen PSD-related biological pathways and genes. After the experimental model was established, the expression differences of key genes and related pathways were compared between the model group and the control group through acupuncture treatment and qPCR verification. Results Depression and stroke-related genes were obtained by bioinformatics methods, and then important biological processes and biological pathways related to depression and stroke were analyzed by GO and KEGG. And further screen out the disease targets closely related to PSD. In the follow-up animal experiments, we confirmed that acupuncture can intervene on these key pathways and targets, and then play a role in the targeted therapy of diseases. Conclusion The results of this study show that five genes (“NRBP1”, “SIRT1”, “BDNF”, “MAPK3”, “CREB1”.) and key biological pathways such as NFkB, PI3K/AKT activation, and MAPK are the keys to the occurrence and development of PSD biomarkers, which can also be therapeutically intervened by acupuncture.

Objective. To discuss whether tongue acupuncture is more effective than traditional acupuncture in the treatment of poststroke dysarthria and explore the advantage of tongue acupuncture treatment parameters. Methods. We evaluated the efficacy of tongue acupuncture compared with traditional acupuncture through a rigorous meta-analysis process. The included studies were from eight databases in English and Chinese. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of studies. Stata15.1 software was used for meta-analysis and sensitivity analysis. Tongue acupuncture therapeutic parameters were classified and counted based on tongue acupoint location, acupuncture manipulation, and the number of manipulations. Subgroup analysis was used to compare the differences between various treatment parameters. Outcome The meta-analysis eventually included a total of 9 studies. Tongue acupuncture is superior to traditional acupuncture in clinical efficacy [OR = 3.62, 95%Cl (2.24, 5.85), P < 0.0001 ], FDA score [SMD = −1.99, 95%Cl (−3.77, −0.21), P = 0.028 ], and NIHSS score [WMD = 0.86, 95%Cl (0.15, 1.57), P = 0.017 , I2 = 31.7%] in the treatment of poststroke dysarthria. According to the classified statistics of tongue acupuncture treatment parameters, there are three kinds of tongue acupuncture points in 9 studies: lingual surface, sublingual, and both lingual surface and sublingual acupoints. The operation methods include the oblique stabbing of the root of the tongue, twisting after stabbing, and acupoint pricking. The number of operation methods varies from 1 to 3. Conclusion. Tongue acupuncture outperforms traditional acupuncture in terms of clinical efficacy, FDA score, and NIHSS score in the treatment of poststroke dysarthria. The curative effect of sublingual acupoints is better than that of lingual surface acupoints, the combined use of multiple manipulations is better than that of a single manipulation, and acupuncture manipulation has a cumulative effect. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42021285722.

Background: This study used a network meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy of various different acupuncture types and language rehabilitation training on post-stroke dysarthria (PSD), and examined the possible mechanisms involved. There are often clinical studies comparing the effects of different acupuncture methods on dysarthria after stroke. The efficacy of these methods can be ranked by network meta-analysis. This is necessary for clinical acupoints selection. The results of this study illustrated the comparison of the therapeutic effects of 6 different acupuncture types, which can provide some reference for clinical acupoints selection and research. Methods: A comprehensive search for clinical studies related to the use of acupuncture to treat PSD was conducted in eight English and Chinese databases. Patients were divided into six groups based on the acupoints selected, namely, tongue, neck, scalp, body, combination, and traditional acupuncture. The recovery of neurological function in the patients was assessed based on the curative impact and the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the Cochrane risk bias assessment tool and the STandards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture (STRICTA) criteria. A network meta-analysis was performed using the network-meta package of Stata 15.1 software based on frequency. The heterogeneity test, consistency test, head-to-head mixed comparison, efficacy ranking, and publication bias study were all performed.Results: A total of 47 studies were finally included. There was a total of 4,197 patients in the eligible studies. The model for network meta-analysis proved robust, with minimal heterogeneity and high consistency. Combined acupuncture combined with language rehabilitation training was the most effective in treating dysarthria symptoms, followed by tongue acupuncture (TA) and nape acupuncture (NA). In addition, the combined effect of acupuncture and language training was superior to that of acupuncture alone. In terms of recovery of nerve function, traditional acupuncture and body acupuncture were more effective. To facilitate the recovery of nerve function, increasing the frequency of acupoints is necessary.Conclusions: Combined acupuncture may have the most beneficial healing effect on PSD, followed by acupuncture of the tongue and the nape of the neck. In terms of recovery of nerve function, traditional acupuncture and body acupuncture may have more effective.