The Emotion Regulation of Acupuncture in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Neuroimaging Protocol

Peng Lai; Shirui Cheng; Xingyao Chen; Fangdong Cheng; Jun Cheng; Ming Xin; Deliang Zhu; Zhengjie Li; Xi Wu; Fang Zeng

doi:10.2147/JPR.S450589

The Emotion Regulation of Acupuncture in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Neuroimaging Protocol

J Pain Res. 2024 Mar 1:17:817-825. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S450589. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Peng Lai^{1

2}, Shirui Cheng^{1

2}, Xingyao Chen¹, Fangdong Cheng^{3

4

5}, Jun Cheng^{3

4

5}, Ming Xin^{3

4

6}, Deliang Zhu^{3

4

6}, Zhengjie Li^{1

2}, Xi Wu¹, Fang Zeng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Acupuncture and Tuina School, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
² Acupuncture & Brain Research Center, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
³ Geriatric Diseases Institute of Chengdu, Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Affiliated Fifth People's Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Cancer Prevention and Treatment Institute of Chengdu, Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Affiliated Fifth People's Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Department of Orthopedic, Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Affiliated Fifth People's Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.
⁶ Department of Rehabilitation, Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Affiliated Fifth People's Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Introduction: Acupuncture is effective for patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), which can relieve pain intensity and regulate negative emotional states such as pain-related anxiety and depression. Previous studies mainly discuss the analgesic mechanism of acupuncture treatment of CLBP, but there are multiple dimensions to pain, including sensation, emotion and cognition. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the central mechanism of acupuncture for CLBP from the perspective of emotional regulation by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods and analysis: A total of 72 patients with CLBP will be recruited in the study and randomly assigned to the verum acupuncture group or the sham acupuncture group. The trail will last for 18 weeks including a 2-week baseline, a 4-week treatment and a 12-week for follow-up period. The primary outcomes are the visual analog scale (VAS) and the Japanese Orthopaedic Association Scores (JOA) score. The secondary outcomes are the 12-item short form health survey (SF-12), the state trait anxiety inventory (STAI), the self-rating anxiety scale (SAS) and self-rating depression scale (SDS). The VAS, JOA, STAI SAS and SDS will be collected at baseline, week 2, week 4, and after follow-up. The SF-12 will be evaluated at baseline, week 2 and week 4. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data will be collected at baseline and the end of treatment. Emotion-related brain regions will be chosen as regions of interest (ROIs). The gray matter volume (GMV), amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), functional connectivity (FC), and large-scale functional brain network based on these ROIs will be analyzed within and between the two groups.

Discussion: This study will verify the emotional regulation of acupuncture and explore the mechanism of acupuncture for emotion regulation in patients with CLBP.

Trial registration number: https://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.html?proj=195486, identifier: ChiCTR2300070557.

Keywords: acupuncture; chronic low back pain; emotion regulation; functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Grants and funding

This study is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 82205288), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2021MD703796), Sichuan Science and Technology Program (No. 2022NSFSC0856), Medical Technology Project of Health Commission of Sichuan Province (No. 21PJ110). The funders did not play any role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.