Efficacy of acupuncture in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease and its impact on gut microbiota: Study protocol for a randomized sham-controlled trial.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Acupuncture is used as an adjuvant therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD), but available evidence for efficacy is limited so far. Growing studies suggest that resident gut microbiota contributes to the development and progression of AD. Meanwhile, acupuncture is reported to treat gastrointestinal and neurodegenerative disorders via the gut-brain axis. Therefore, our aim is to confirm the adjunctive therapeutic effects of acupuncture for AD, and explore the relationship between clinical efficacy and shifts of gut microbiota.

Methods and analysis

This is a randomized, participant-masked, sham-controlled trial. One hundred and sixty participants with mild AD will be randomly assigned (1:1) to either active acupuncture or non-penetrating sham acupuncture (three

SUBMITTER: Kong X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9996632 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature