Xu, Xiao-Shan, Ma, Wei, Xiong, Luo-Jie et al. · Zhen ci yan jiu = Acupuncture research · 2022 · DOI
Researchers tested a traditional Chinese medicine treatment called herbal cake-separated moxibustion on rats with chronic fatigue syndrome to see if it could improve fatigue and stress responses. The treatment appeared to reduce physical exhaustion markers in the blood (lactic acid) and activate cellular energy-producing pathways in muscles, similar to effects seen with oral herbal medicine.
This study provides preclinical evidence that herbal medicine combined with acupoint moxibustion may work through energy metabolism pathways implicated in ME/CFS, specifically by improving cellular energy production (AMPK/PGC-1α) and reducing markers of cellular stress. Understanding biological mechanisms in animal models can guide future human studies of traditional medicine interventions for ME/CFS.
This rat study does not prove that moxibustion is effective in humans with ME/CFS, as animal stress models do not fully replicate the human disease. The study cannot establish causation between AMPK/PGC-1α activation and symptom improvement, only correlation. Results from rats treated acutely for 10 days do not necessarily translate to chronic human ME/CFS or long-term treatment outcomes.
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, Xiao-Shan, Ma, Wei, Xiong, Luo-Jie, Zhai, Chun-Tao, Li, Wei, & Tian, Yue-Feng (2022). [Effect of herbal cake-separated moxibustion on behavioral stress reactions and blood lactic acid level and muscular AMPK/PGC-1α signaling in rats with chronic fatigue syndrome].. Zhen ci yan jiu = Acupuncture research. https://doi.org/10.13702/j.1000-0607.20220017
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-xu-2022-effect-herbal,
author = {Xu, Xiao-Shan and Ma, Wei and Xiong, Luo-Jie and Zhai, Chun-Tao and Li, Wei and Tian, Yue-Feng},
title = {[Effect of herbal cake-separated moxibustion on behavioral stress reactions and blood lactic acid level and muscular AMPK/PGC-1α signaling in rats with chronic fatigue syndrome].},
journal = {Zhen ci yan jiu = Acupuncture research},
year = {2022},
doi = {10.13702/j.1000-0607.20220017},
note = {PubMed: 36301164},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2022-effect-herbal},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/xu-2022-effect-herbal
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