Li, Chao-Ran, Sun, Zhong-Ren, Wang, Yu-Lin et al. · Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion · 2022 · DOI
This study explores how gut bacteria may contribute to chronic fatigue syndrome and suggests that acupuncture and moxibustion (traditional Chinese medicine techniques) might help by restoring healthy gut bacteria. The researchers believe that an imbalance in gut bacteria can trigger inflammation and metabolism problems in ME/CFS patients, and that these traditional treatments could reduce fatigue by improving gut health and communication between the gut and brain.
Understanding the role of gut dysbiosis in ME/CFS could open new diagnostic and treatment avenues for patients with few effective options. If acupuncture and moxibustion do modulate the gut microbiome-immune-brain axis, this mechanism-based approach might offer a rationale for investigating these treatments in rigorous clinical trials, potentially providing accessible therapeutic options.
This study does not provide clinical evidence that acupuncture or moxibustion actually treat ME/CFS—it proposes theoretical mechanisms only. It does not establish causality between gut dysbiosis and ME/CFS or demonstrate that these traditional treatments produce measurable improvements in patients. The mechanistic hypotheses require validation through well-designed clinical trials with objective outcome measures.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Li, Chao-Ran, Sun, Zhong-Ren, Wang, Yu-Lin, Yang, Yan, Sun, Wei-Bo, Qu, Yuan-Yuan, et al. (2022). [Mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion in treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome from perspective of intestinal flora].. Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion. https://doi.org/10.13703/j.0255-2930.20210829-k0003
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-li-2022-mechanism-acupuncture,
author = {Li, Chao-Ran and Sun, Zhong-Ren and Wang, Yu-Lin and Yang, Yan and Sun, Wei-Bo and Qu, Yuan-Yuan and Wang, Qing-Yong and Yang, Tian-Song},
title = {[Mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion in treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome from perspective of intestinal flora].},
journal = {Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.13703/j.0255-2930.20210829-k0003},
note = {PubMed: 35938342},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2022-mechanism-acupuncture},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/li-2022-mechanism-acupuncture
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