Myofascial acupuncture versus routine acupuncture for mechanical neck pain: a protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Mechanical neck pain (MNP) is defined as pain in the area of the neck and/or neck-shoulder provoked by body mechanics and which adversely affects physical, psychological and social function. The treatments for MNP are limited. Previous studies and clinical experience have indicated that myofascial acupuncture might be a better treatment option for MNP, but the efficacy is controversial. Therefore, our aim is to compare the efficacy of myofascial acupuncture and routine acupuncture for MNP. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study is a multicentre, prospective randomised clinical trial. Patients will be recruited from four tertiary hospitals in China. A total of 438 participants with MNP will be randomly assigned into two groups, namely the 'Sancai-Tianbu' myofascial acupuncture group and the routine acupuncture group, at a ratio of 1:1. Each group will receive the acupuncture treatment twice a week for 21 days, totalling six sessions. The primary outcome will be the Visual Analogue Scale score. The secondary outcomes will be the Neck Disability Index, the cervical range of motion and the MOS 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. The assessments will be performed at baseline (immediately after allocation), pretreatment (5 min before every treatment), post-treatment (within 10 min after every treatment), postcourse (within 1 day after the course), and at 1, 3 and 6 months after the course. All patients will be included in the intent-to-treat analysis. Repeated-measure analysis of covariance will be used to determine the effects of the intervention on the outcome measures. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained from China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation 731 Hospital, with permission number 2022-0204-01. Written informed consent will be obtained from the enrolled patients. Trial results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ChiCTR2200061453.

[Effects of preventive-electroacupuncture of "Guanyuan" (CV 4) and "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6) on hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary axis in ovariectomized rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of preventive-electroacupuncture (PEA) at "Guanyuan" (CV 4) and "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6)on hypothalamus-pituitary-ovary (HPO)activities in ovariectomized (OVX) rats, and to compare the specificity of efficacy of acupoints. METHODS: Sixty-two female SD rats were randomly divided into normal group (n = 6), sham-operation (sham) group (n = 6), model group (n = 6), PEA-Guanyuan (CV 4, PEA-CV 4) group (n = 11), PEA-Sanyinjiao (SP 6, PEA-SP 6) group (n = 11), complementary (C)-PEA-CV 4 (n = 11) and C-PEA-SP 6 group (n = 11). Climacterium model was duplicated by removing the bilateral ovaries. Before OVX, electroacupuncture (EA, 2 Hz/100 Hz, ) was applied to bilateral SP 6, CV 4 for 20 min, once every other day for 15 times. For rats of the C-PEA-CV 4 and C-PEA-SP 6 groups and 12 days after the OVX, PEA was applied to CV 4 and SP 6 again, once every other day for 5 times. For rats of the sham group, a little of fat nearby the ovary was removed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure the contents of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) in the hypothalamus, follicule-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) in the hypophysis, and estrogen (E2) in the uterus. RESULTS: In comparison with the normal group, uterus E2 content was decreased significantly (P < 0. 05), and pituitary FSH and LH contents and hypothalamic GnRH content were increased obviously (P < 0.01) in the model group. Compared with the model group, uterus E2 levels in the PEA-CV 4 and C-PEA-CV 4 groups were increased apparently (P < 0.05), while both pituitary FSH and hypothalamic GnRH levels in the PEA-CV 4, C-PEA-CV 4, PEA-SP 6 and C-PEA-SP 6 groups, and pituitary LH levels in the C-PEA-CV 4 and PEA-SP 6 groups were down-regulated markedly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), suggesting an improvement of the HPO axis activity following PEA and C-PEA. No significant differences were found between the normal and sham groups in uterus E2, pituitary FSH and LH, and hypothalamic GnRH contents, and between the model and PEA-SP 6 groups, and between the model and C-PEA-SP 6 groups in uterus E2 levels, and between the model and PEA-CV 4 groups, and between the model and C-PEA-SP 6 groups in pituitary LH levels (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Preventive EA of "Guanyuan" (CV 4) and "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6) can function in up-regulating uterus E2 level, and down-regulating pituitary FSH and LH contents and hypothalamic GnRH level in OVX rats, which may contribute to its efficacy in relieving climacteric syndrome in clinic.