Xia, Depeng, Chen, Peifang, Du, Peixue et al. · Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion · 2017 · DOI
This study tested whether a traditional Chinese medicine treatment combining acupuncture with catgut embedding and ginger-based moxibustion could help people with chronic fatigue syndrome. The treatment group showed greater improvements in fatigue symptoms and immune system markers compared to people receiving standard acupuncture alone, with 96.7% reporting benefit.
This study addresses immune dysfunction in ME/CFS, an area of significant interest to patients and researchers, by demonstrating measurable improvements in T lymphocyte subsets and NK cell activity alongside symptom reduction. The results suggest acupuncture-based interventions may offer immunomodulatory benefits beyond symptomatic relief, potentially supporting mechanism-based treatment approaches for ME/CFS.
This study does not establish that catgut embedding and moxibustion work better than acupuncture in Western patient populations, nor does it clarify whether immune marker improvements directly cause symptom relief or are merely correlated. The study's reliance on traditional Chinese medicine diagnostics (spleen-kidney yang deficiency) limits generalizability to ME/CFS populations defined by biomedical criteria, and lacks long-term follow-up data.
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
Xia, Depeng, Chen, Peifang, Du, Peixue, Ding, Lijun, & Liu, Anli (2017). [Efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding combined with ginger-partitioned moxibustion on chronic fatigue syndrome of spleen-kidney <i>yang</i> deficiency syndrome and its effects on T lymphocyte subsets and activity of NK cell].. Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion. https://doi.org/10.13703/j.0255-2930.2017.08.004
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-xia-2017-efficacy-acupoint,
author = {Xia, Depeng and Chen, Peifang and Du, Peixue and Ding, Lijun and Liu, Anli},
title = {[Efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding combined with ginger-partitioned moxibustion on chronic fatigue syndrome of spleen-kidney <i>yang</i> deficiency syndrome and its effects on T lymphocyte subsets and activity of NK cell].},
journal = {Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.13703/j.0255-2930.2017.08.004},
note = {PubMed: 29231339},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xia-2017-efficacy-acupoint},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-25. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xia-2017-efficacy-acupoint
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