Xu, Yi-Yan, Liu, Ji-Hong, Ding, Hui et al. · Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion · 2019 · DOI
This study tested whether auricular gold-needle therapy (inserting gold needles in specific points on the ear) could help patients with chronic fatigue syndrome caused by qi deficiency, a concept from traditional Chinese medicine. Compared to seed pressure therapy and herbal medicine, the gold-needle treatment resulted in better symptom improvement and stronger immune markers after three months of treatment.
Immune dysregulation is observed in some ME/CFS patients, and this study provides preliminary evidence that acupuncture-based interventions may modulate immune function. For patients seeking complementary therapies and researchers investigating immunological mechanisms, this work contributes to understanding potential non-pharmacological treatment approaches.
This study does not establish that auricular gold-needle therapy is effective for ME/CFS broadly, as it studied only patients with 'qi deficiency constitution'—a traditional Chinese medicine classification not validated against modern ME/CFS diagnostic criteria. The mechanism linking needle stimulation to immune changes remains speculative, and improvements in symptom scores do not prove biological causation. Blinding was not mentioned, raising risk of bias in subjective symptom assessment.
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
Xu, Yi-Yan, Liu, Ji-Hong, Ding, Hui, Tang, Hong, Song, Shao-Ying, Zhong, Wei-Quan, et al. (2019). [Clinical research of auricular gold-needle therapy in treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome of <i>qi</i> deficiency constitution].. Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion. https://doi.org/10.13703/j.0255-2930.2019.02.004
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-xu-2019-clinical-research,
author = {Xu, Yi-Yan and Liu, Ji-Hong and Ding, Hui and Tang, Hong and Song, Shao-Ying and Zhong, Wei-Quan and Pan, Zhi-Bin},
title = {[Clinical research of auricular gold-needle therapy in treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome of <i>qi</i> deficiency constitution].},
journal = {Zhongguo zhen jiu = Chinese acupuncture & moxibustion},
year = {2019},
doi = {10.13703/j.0255-2930.2019.02.004},
note = {PubMed: 30942029},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2019-clinical-research},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2019-clinical-research
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