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Background: Current research evidence challenges clinical decision-making when acupuncture is taken into consideration in the treatment of cognitive impairment (CI). Aiming to provide some viable recommendations for acupuncture practitioners in dealing with actual clinic issues, an expert consensus study was conducted. Methods: A clinical question investigation among 47 acupuncturists yielded 24 initial items. Subsequently, systematic reviews on acupuncture for CI were searched within three online databases. A panel of 30 authoritative experts were requested to respond with agreement, neutrality, or disagreement for each item. Consensus establishment was defined as the percentage of agreement on a given item >80%. Results: Following a 2-round Delphi survey, there were 21 items reaching consensus and three items resulting in no consensus; of which 10 items reached 90∼100% agreement, and 80∼90% expert agreement was achieved for 11 items. These items could be roughly categorized into six domains: (1) therapeutic effects of acupuncture, (2) therapeutic principles, (3) acupoint selection and combination, (4) acupuncture parameters, (5) considerable combined therapies, and (6) possible adverse events. Conclusion: Without ready-made guidelines, this expert consensus may be conducive to guide acupuncturists in implementing clinical acupuncture practice for CI. Moreover, given the lack of high-quality research evidence and plenty of unresolved clinical issues in this field, it is of necessity to carry out more studies to better clarify the treatment algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims Oxidative stress and inflammation have been implicated in the pathogenesis of vascular dementia (VD). Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) plays a vital role in oxidative stress and NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome activation. There is evidence that acupuncture has an antioxidative and neuroprotective effect in VD. In this study, we investigated whether acupuncture can attenuate cognitive impairment via inhibiting TXNIP-associated oxidative stress and inflammation in VD rats. Methods Both common carotid arteries were occluded (2-vessel occlusion [2VO]) in rats to model VD. The neuroprotective effect of acupuncture was assessed by the Morris water maze and Nissl staining. Oxidative stress was assessed by detecting levels of reactive oxygen species, DNA oxidation, and antioxidase. Western blot, real-time PCR, and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of TXNIP, NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1β. A TXNIP siRNA intraventricular injection was applied to investigate whether acupuncture mimicked the effect of TXNIP inhibitor. Results Our findings demonstrated that VD rats treated with acupuncture had reduced hippocampal neuronal loss and oxidative stress. The upregulation of TXNIP, NLRP3, caspase-1, and IL-1β induced by 2VO was also reversed by acupuncture. Furthermore, TXNIP siRNA had a similar effect as acupuncture on cognition, hippocampal neurons, and ROS production in VD rats. Conclusion In conclusion, our study suggests that the neuroprotective effects of acupuncture in VD are mediated through reducing expression of TXNIP-associated oxidative stress and inflammation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data presented in Figure 1A was previously reported by the authors in Figure 1A of Reference[1], which is not cited in the Article. Correction to: I Scientific Reports i https://doi.org/10.1038/srep17981, published online 10 December 2015 This Article contains errors. [Extracted from the article]