Fuyuan Tongluo acupuncture combined with conventional Western Medicine was associated with improved rehabilitation in acute cerebral infarction, with reduced serum YKL-40, PAF and OPN and better neurofunctional, cognitive and daily living scores, though the changes may not be solely attributable to acupuncture and need validation in large multi-center studies.
The short-term total effective rate was higher in patients receiving Fuyuan Tongluo acupuncture plus conventional Western Medicine than in those receiving Western Medicine alone.
Neurological, cognitive and daily living scores improved after treatment in both groups, with greater improvement in the acupuncture group.
Serum YKL-40, PAF and OPN fell after treatment in both groups, and fell more in the acupuncture group.
Patients with ACI had higher serum YKL-40, PAF, OPN and carotid IMT than healthy controls.
Serum YKL-40, PAF and OPN were positively correlated with carotid IMT in ACI patients.
Patients with poor 90-day prognosis (by modified Rankin scale) had higher IMT, more unstable plaques, and higher YKL-40, PAF and OPN than those with good prognosis.
In multivariate logistic regression, serum YKL-40 and PAF were independently associated with poor short-term prognosis, whereas IMT and OPN were not significant.
Serum YKL-40, PAF and OPN showed good discrimination for poor short-term prognosis on ROC analysis, and a combined model improved discrimination.
The authors caution that observed improvements may not be solely attributable to acupuncture and require validation.
This study looked at 102 people hospitalized with acute stroke caused by a blocked blood vessel in the brain (acute cerebral infarction). Some received standard Western medical care plus a form of acupuncture called Fuyuan Tongluo (50 patients), and others received standard care alone (52 patients). Groups were assigned based on what was recorded in medical records, not randomly. The acupuncture group had a higher rate of treatment response (90% vs about 69%) and greater improvements in stroke severity, thinking ability and daily functioning scores. Blood levels of three inflammation- and vessel-related markers (YKL-40, PAF and OPN) also dropped more in the acupuncture group. The study also examined whether these markers relate to artery health and recovery. Stroke patients had higher levels of the markers and thicker carotid artery walls than healthy people, and higher marker levels went along with thicker artery walls. Patients who had poor outcomes at 90 days tended to have higher marker levels, and YKL-40 and PAF in particular were independently linked to poor outcomes. Measured by statistical accuracy tests, these markers, especially PAF, distinguished patients with poor from good outcomes quite well, and combining them did better. This research suggests that acupuncture added to standard care may be associated with better recovery and lower blood markers, and that these markers might help identify patients at risk of poor outcomes. However, because patients were not randomized, the improvements could partly reflect natural recovery or standard treatment, and the authors say larger multi-center studies are needed to confirm the results.
Xiaoming X, Xiaoping M. (2026). Effect of Fuyuan Tongluo acupuncture on neurological function and serum chitinase-3-like protein 1, platelet-activating factor and osteopontin in patients with acute cerebral infarction and its prognostic factors.. Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan. https://doi.org/10.19852/j.cnki.jtcm.2026.05.019