Instant and short-term effects of acupuncture for depression and anxiety in unstable angina pectoris patients with percutaneous coronary interventions.

Fractal Image to represent HRV — Fractal Image
Heart Rate Variability is a fractal, complexity measure. Complexity=healthy

This is a nice, well-conceived study since it focuses on a specific population under specific circumstances (pre-op cath lab). What they found was that the patients receiving electroacupuncture had lower LF/HF which means their stress profile of sympathetic/parasympathetic activity was lowered. The measure of their vagal activity was higher. One specific measure of inflammation, Il-6, (mentioned frequently in my book) was also lower. No change in other parameters involving insulin, blood glucose or CRP.

Anyway, nice study and more evidence for acupuncture for stress and anxiety reduction.

Pei JH, Gan F, Bai YH, Xing YL, Jia JJ, Wang H. Instant and short-term effects of acupuncture for depression and anxiety in unstable angina pectoris patients with percutaneous coronary interventions. Front Cardiovasc Med. 2024 Jan 19;11:1173080. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2024.1173080. PMID: 38312234; PMCID: PMC10834639.

Juan Hui Pei¹, Feng Gan¹, Yun He Bai¹, Yan Lin Xing¹, Jian Jun Jia^#², Huan Wang^#³

Affiliations

¹Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Beijing Aerospace General Hospital, Beijing, China.
²Institute of Geriatrics, Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, China.
³The Second Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.

^#Contributed equally.

Abstract

Aim: Patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP) usually present anxiety or depression during percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This study sought to investigate the instant and short-term effects of acupuncture for anxiety and depression in UAP patients with PCI.

Methods: A total of 210 UAP patients who underwent PCI (percutaneous coronary intervention) were recruited and randomly assigned (1:1:1) to acupuncture, placebo, or control groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the levels of fasting glucose, fasting insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), interleukin-6 (IL-6), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), advanced oxidation protein products (AoPPs), and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OX-LDL). Serial questionnaires with the Hamilton Anxiety (HAMA) scale and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index were evaluated, and heart rate variability indicators were obtained.

Results: Primary end-point: low frequency/high frequency (HF) was lower in the electroacupuncture group (p = 0.014), while standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, average standard deviation of normal-to-normal intervals, percentage of successive intervals that differ more than 50 ms, and HF were increased with acupuncture (p = 0.018, p = 0.043, p = 0.016, and p = 0.002, respectively). Secondary end-point: significant improvements in anxiety levels (HAMA) were observed in the three groups (p < 0.001). The fasting insulin and HOMA-IR levels were similar between the control group and the acupuncture group (p = 0.285 and p = 0.165, respectively). The levels of IL-6 and AoPPs differed among the three groups (p = 0.021 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, no significant differences were found in fasting plasma glucose, fasting c-peptide, Hs-CRP, and OX-LDL levels among the three groups (p = 0.585, p = 0.611, p = 0.902, and p = 0.756, respectively).

Conclusions: In this study, short-term acupuncture may potentially relieve clinical symptoms before PCI treatment.

Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier (NCT03789344).

Keywords: acupuncture; cardiovascular autonomic function; coronary heart disease; depression; heart rate variability.