PuSH - Publication Server of Helmholtz Zentrum München

Gao, Z. ; Yan, X.* ; Wang-Sattler, R. ; Covic, M. ; Yu, G.* ; Ge, F.* ; Lin, J.* ; Chen, Q.* ; Liu, J.* ; Sharma, S. ; Molnos, S. ; Kühnel, B. ; Wilson, R. ; Adam, J. ; Brandmaier, S. ; Yu, S.* ; Liang, F.* ; Gieger, C.

Metabolomics reveals reasons for the efficacy of acupuncture in migraine patients: The role of anaerobic glycolysis and mitochondrial citrate in migraine relief.

Phenomics 5, 707-728 (2025)
Publ. Version/Full Text Research data DOI PMC
Open Access Hybrid
Creative Commons Lizenzvertrag
Acupuncture is used worldwide to treat migraine, but its scientific mechanism remains unclear. Here, we report a 1H NMR metabolomics study involving 40 migraine patients and 10 healthy individuals randomly receiving acupuncture or sham acupuncture, followed by machine learning techniques and functional analysis. We found that acupuncture at acupoints particularly enhanced anaerobic glycolysis and modified mitochondrial function by adjusting the levels of plasma pyruvic acid (p = 0.012), lactic acid (p = 0.031) and citrate (p = 0.00079) at a Bonferroni-corrected level of significance compared to the pre-treatment level of these three metabolites in migraine patients. Therefore, acupuncture supplies energy to migraine patients and relieves migraine attacks. In contrast, we observed that sham acupuncture may partially supply energy to migraine patients through lipid metabolism by changing the levels of plasma lipid (p = 0.0012), glycerine (p = 0.021), and pyruvic acid (p = 0.047) at a Bonferroni-corrected level of significance. The functional network analysis further indicates this different way of supplying energy contributes to the different effects of acupuncture and sham acupuncture. Our findings reveal novel metabolic evidence for the specific effect of acupuncture in relation to sham acupuncture. This metabolic evidence could enlighten a brand new direction into acupuncture analgesia mechanism, which in turn would pose fresh challenges for future acupuncture research.
Altmetric
Additional Metrics?
[➜Log in]
Edit extra informations Login
Publication type Article: Journal article
Document type Scientific Article
Keywords Migraine; Acupuncture; Metabolomics; Anaerobic glycolysis; Citrate; Lactic acid; Energy-metabolism; Acid-metabolism; Rat Model; Pathway; Electroacupuncture; Prophylaxis; Activation; Biomarkers; Brain; Mice
ISSN (print) / ISBN 2730-583X
e-ISSN 2730-5848
Journal Phenomics
Quellenangaben Volume: 5, Issue: 6, Pages: 707-728 Article Number: , Supplement: ,
Publisher Springer
Publishing Place Campus, 4 Crinan St, London, N1 9xw, England
Reviewing status Peer reviewed
Institute(s) Institute of Epidemiology (EPI)
Grants German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
K. C. Wong Education Foundation
Top Grade TCM Science Technology Laboratory of State Administration of TCM of China
National Natural Science Foundation