Liu, Chang-zheng, Lei, Bo · Zhen ci yan jiu = Acupuncture research · 2013
Researchers tested whether acupuncture could help rats with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) learn and remember better. They found that acupuncture improved memory performance in fatigued rats and also increased protective molecules in the brain while reducing harmful ones, suggesting acupuncture may work by protecting brain cells from oxidative damage.
Cognitive dysfunction and brain energy metabolism are hallmark features of ME/CFS. This study provides preliminary mechanistic evidence that acupuncture may address oxidative stress in the brain, a proposed contributor to ME/CFS symptoms. These findings could motivate human clinical trials examining acupuncture's cognitive and neuroprotective effects in ME/CFS patients.
This animal study does not prove acupuncture is effective in human ME/CFS patients—rat models of CFS do not fully replicate the human disease. The study also does not establish causality between oxidative stress reduction and cognitive improvement; it only shows correlation. Results from induced-stress rat models may not generalize to naturally occurring ME/CFS with its heterogeneous etiology.
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
Liu, Chang-zheng & Lei, Bo (2013). [Effect of acupuncture intervention on learning-memory ability and cerebral superoxide dismutase activity and malonaldehyde concentration in chronic fatigue syndrome rats].. Zhen ci yan jiu = Acupuncture research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24588031/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-liu-2013-effect-acupuncture,
author = {Liu, Chang-zheng and Lei, Bo},
title = {[Effect of acupuncture intervention on learning-memory ability and cerebral superoxide dismutase activity and malonaldehyde concentration in chronic fatigue syndrome rats].},
journal = {Zhen ci yan jiu = Acupuncture research},
year = {2013},
note = {PubMed: 24588031},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/liu-2013-effect-acupuncture},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-27. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/liu-2013-effect-acupuncture
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