Stratified Efficacy and Peripheral Neuroinflammatory Mechanisms of Jin's Tongue Triple Acupuncture as Adjunctive Therapy for Subacute Post-Stroke Broca Aphasia: A 1:1 PSM Retrospective Cohort Study.
Ma T, Zhou H, et al. • Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN • 2026
Adjuvant Jin's tongue triple acupuncture selectively enhanced spontaneous speech and naming performance among subacute stroke survivors with mild-to-moderate ischemic Broca aphasia while modulating circulating levels of peripheral neurotrophic factors and inflammatory mediators.
Key Findings
Results
After 30 days of intervention, the combined group showed significantly higher total ABC score, spontaneous speech score, and naming score compared to the control group.
All comparisons of total ABC score, spontaneous speech, and naming reached P < 0.001
Both groups showed significant improvement from baseline on all ABC subscales after the 30-day intervention
No statistically significant intergroup differences were observed in repetition and auditory comprehension subscores (P > 0.05)
The study used the Aphasia Battery of Chinese (ABC) as the primary outcome instrument
182 matched pairs were analyzed following 1:1 propensity score matching with a caliper of 0.05
Results
Jin's tongue triple acupuncture yielded definite clinical benefits only in patients with mild and moderate motor aphasia, with limited improvements observed in severe aphasia.
Stratified subgroup analyses were conducted by aphasia severity, stroke subtype, age, and type 2 diabetes status
Patients with severe aphasia and extensive bilateral cortical lesions showed limited expressive language improvements
The therapy appeared to have boundaries for applicable populations based on aphasia severity stratification
Formal interaction testing was noted as needed to verify whether severity significantly modifies therapeutic efficacy
Results
Patients with ischemic stroke, aged 65 years or younger, and without type 2 diabetes exhibited better intervention responses to Jin's tongue triple acupuncture.
Exploratory subgroup analyses identified ischemic stroke subtype, age ≤ 65 years, and absence of type 2 diabetes as factors associated with better rehabilitation responses
Hemorrhagic stroke, older age, and type 2 diabetes were associated with attenuated rehabilitation responses
These findings are from exploratory subgroup analyses and formal interaction testing is needed to confirm whether these factors significantly modify efficacy
Stratified analyses were pre-specified according to aphasia severity, stroke subtype, age, and type 2 diabetes status
Results
Serological detection revealed statistically significant yet moderate-magnitude changes in peripheral neurotrophic factors and inflammatory mediators in the combined group after intervention.
Serum concentrations of BDNF, CGRP, ET-1, IL-1β, and TNF-α were measured via ELISA
All biomarker changes in the combined group reached P < 0.001
The paper characterizes these changes as 'statistically significant yet moderate-magnitude'
These peripheral neuroinflammatory mediator changes were secondary outcomes of the study
Results
The total incidence of acupuncture-related adverse events was 6.59%, all presenting as self-resolving mild reactions without moderate or severe complications.
No moderate or severe acupuncture-related complications were observed
All adverse reactions were classified as mild and self-resolving
Adverse reactions were counted using grading standards
The paper notes 'clear boundaries existed for applicable populations' despite the low adverse event rate
Methods
After 1:1 propensity score matching, 182 matched pairs with balanced baseline data were obtained from an initial pool of 426 eligible patients.
614 patients were initially screened; 188 were excluded per predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria, leaving 426 eligible patients
The combined group originally comprised 221 patients; the control group comprised the remaining 205 patients
Nearest-neighbor propensity score matching used a caliper of 0.05
Baseline covariates were considered balanced when the standardized mean difference (SMD) was less than 0.1
Propensity score matching was performed using the MatchIt package in R 4.2
Methods
The study was a retrospective cohort analysis of consecutive inpatient rehabilitation records from a single center over a one-year period.
Data were retrieved from the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Jingzhou First People's Hospital
Records spanned from March 2025 to March 2026
The intervention duration was 30 consecutive days
The combined group received Jin's tongue triple acupuncture plus standardized speech rehabilitation; the control group received standardized speech rehabilitation alone
Statistical analyses were completed with SPSS 26.0 and R 4.2
What This Means
This research suggests that adding a specialized form of tongue acupuncture — called Jin's tongue triple acupuncture — to standard speech therapy may offer meaningful improvements in speaking ability and word-finding for stroke survivors with mild-to-moderate Broca's aphasia (a condition where people struggle to produce speech after a stroke). In a study of 182 matched patient pairs followed over 30 days at a Chinese rehabilitation hospital, patients who received both the acupuncture and speech therapy showed significantly better scores on spontaneous speech and naming tasks compared to those who received speech therapy alone. However, the combined treatment did not appear to improve repetition or comprehension of spoken language. Blood tests also showed changes in proteins related to brain health and inflammation (including BDNF, CGRP, ET-1, IL-1β, and TNF-α), hinting at a possible biological mechanism, though the magnitude of these changes was described as moderate.
Importantly, this research suggests the benefits are not universal. Patients with severe aphasia, those who had hemorrhagic (bleeding-type) strokes, those over age 65, and those with type 2 diabetes appeared to respond less well to the acupuncture treatment. Only about 6.6% of patients experienced any acupuncture-related side effects, and all of these were mild and resolved on their own without medical intervention. These findings highlight the need to match treatments to specific patient profiles rather than applying them broadly.
The study has notable limitations as a retrospective (looking back at past records) single-center study, and the authors caution that the subgroup findings — such as the effects of age and diabetes — need confirmation through more rigorous testing. This research suggests that individualized rehabilitation plans, informed by aphasia severity and patient characteristics, may lead to better outcomes and more realistic expectations for recovery.
Ma T, Zhou H, Liu Y, Cheng X, Li M. (2026). Stratified Efficacy and Peripheral Neuroinflammatory Mechanisms of Jin's Tongue Triple Acupuncture as Adjunctive Therapy for Subacute Post-Stroke Broca Aphasia: A 1:1 PSM Retrospective Cohort Study.. Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-026-02585-y