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REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1425054
This article is part of the Research Topic Animal Models, Gut Microbiota and Brain Diseases View all 23 articles
Microbiota-Gut-Brain-Axis: A New Target of Acupuncture Therapy for Post-stroke Cognitive Impairment
Provisionally accepted
Te Ba 1
Rui Niu 1
Jianjun Gao 1
Wenfang Li 1
Mengwei Dong 1
Jingjing Duan 2
Yinan Gong 3
Sinuo Wu 3
Lyu Zhongxi 3*
Yang Liu 1*
Ningcen Li 3*- 1 Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China
- 2 Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China
- 3 Acupuncture Research Center, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
2 Stroke-induced cognitive impairment is a common complication and an important risk factor for disability. Prevention and treatment of secondary stroke injuries are crucial. Modern research has found that the gut microenvironment can directly or indirectly affect neurological function and cerebral ischemic outcomes, and their crosstalk is achieved through the microbiota-gut-brain-axis (MGBA).Acupuncture, as a promising non-drug treatment, has been recommended for improving post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI). However, in recent years, few studies have systematically analyzed the potential mechanisms in this field, and whether acupuncture can improve PSCI through the MGBA remains to be explored. This review comprehensively summarizes literature and shows that, acupuncture, as an adjuvant therapy can play a potential important role in the treatment of PSCI by regulating the microbiota-gut-brain-axis. Acupuncture can repair intestinal epithelial barrier, regulate gut microbiota and serum metabolites, alleviate gut inflammation and neuroinflammation, and regulating HPA axis function, etc. From the studies we have included, the evidence for its effectiveness remains limited, these results should be interpreted with caution due to the low quality of evidence.Future high-quality clinical and experimental studies are needed. This review also discussed the development prospects of acupuncture in improving PSCI via the MGBA, such as genomics, personalized therapy, establishment of standards, and combination therapy, etc. providing new research ideas and scientific and reliable evidence for the application of acupuncture in PSCI.
Keywords: Acupuncture, post-stroke cognitive impairment, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Gut Microbiota, Microbiota-gut-brain-axis
Received: 29 Apr 2024; Accepted: 03 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ba, Niu, Gao, Li, Dong, Duan, Gong, Wu, Zhongxi, Liu and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lyu Zhongxi, Acupuncture Research Center, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
Yang Liu, Shanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Taiyuan, 030024, Shanxi Province, China
Ningcen Li, Acupuncture Research Center, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, China
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