Brain Functional Interaction of Acupuncture Effects in Diarrhea-Dominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Abstract

Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medicine treatment that has widely been used to modulate gastrointestinal dysfunction caused by irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and to alleviate the resulting pain. Recent studies have shown that gastrointestinal dysfunction caused by IBS is associated with dysregulation of the brain's central and peripheral nervous system, while functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) helps explore functional abnormality of the brain. However, previous studies rarely used fMRI to study the correlations between brain functional connection, interaction, or segregation (e.g., network degree and clustering coefficient) and acupuncture stimulation in IBS. To bridge this knowledge gap, we study the changed brain functional connection, interaction, and segregation before and after acupuncture stimulation for diarrhea-dominant IBS (IBS-D) with the help of complex network methods based on fMRI. Our results indicate that the abnormal functional connections (FCs) in the right hippocampus, right superior occipital gyrus, left lingual gyrus, left middle occipital gyrus, and the cerebellum, and abnormal network degree in right middle occipital gyrus, where normal controls are significantly different from IBS-D patients, are improved after acupuncture stimulation. These changed FCs and the network degree before and after acupuncture stimulation have significant correlations with the changed clinical information including IBS symptom severity score (r = −0.54, p = 0.0065) and IBS quality of life (r = 0.426, p = 0.038). We conclude that the changes of the brain functional connection, interaction, and segregation in the hippocampus, middle and superior occipital gyrus, cerebellum, and the lingual gyrus may be related to acupuncture stimulation. The abnormal functional connection, interaction, and segregation in IBS-D may be improved after acupuncture stimulation.

Networks Are Associated With Acupuncture Treatment in Patients With Diarrhea-Predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Resting-State Imaging Study

“…A previous study evaluated functional connectivity using bilateral hippocampus regions, and the results showed that brain activity differed in the hippocampus, insula, temporo-sphenoid lobe, and occipital lobe in IBS-D patients with acupuncture treatment ( Geng et al, 2021 ). Additionally, increased degrees in the right middle occipital gyrus, and the clustering coefficients and local efficiency in the left superior occipital gyrus were also revealed in IBS-D patients with acupuncture treatment ( Ma et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome patients received acupuncture treatment for 6 weeks, which has previously been reported to be effective for IBS-D patients ( Ma et al, 2020 ; Pei et al, 2020 ). Acupuncture at Baihui (GV20), Yintang (GV29), Taichong (LR3), Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Tianshu (ST25), and Shangjuxu (ST37) acupoints were conducted by the same professional acupuncturist with more than 2 years of clinical experience.…”

“…Several fMRI studies investigating the effect of acupuncture on IBS based on amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, and functional connectivity methods have demonstrated widespread structural and functional alterations in regional brain activity in IBS-D patients ( Ma et al, 2020 ; Geng et al, 2021 ; Liu et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, alterations in regional brain activity of IBS-D patients before and after acupuncture are correlated with changes in IBS symptom severity score (IBS-SSS) and quality of life ( Ma et al, 2020 ; Liu et al, 2021 ). As we all know, the brain is a complex system with multiple functional brain networks.…”

Bibliometric Analysis of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies on Acupuncture Analgesia Over the Past 20 Years

“…The effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia has been proven in previous studies, and numerous clinical researches have explored the central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia through neuroimaging techniques. 28 , 29 Our search revealed that no bibliometric analysis of fMRI studies on acupuncture analgesia was found. Therefore, understanding the current status of fMRI studies on acupuncture analgesia on a global scale is essential.…”

Mild Moxibustion for Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Diarrhea (IBS-D): A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Our previous studies indicate that moxibustion could affect intestinal microbes [30,31], visceral hypersensitivity [31,32], the brain-gut axis [14,16], gastrointestinal function [33]. Other studies showed the moxibustion or acupuncture have bene t effect for IBS-D by regulating the neuroendocrine system [34], the immune system [35], and other factors.…”