Yi, Tao, Qi, Li, Li, Ji et al. · Neural regeneration research · 2016 · DOI
This study tested whether moxibustion, a traditional Chinese medicine technique using heat from burning herbs, could help rats with chronic fatigue syndrome. Researchers found that moxibustion reduced stress hormone levels and increased a protective protein in the brain called progranulin, which appeared to improve the rats' symptoms of fatigue and low mood.
Understanding how complementary therapies might work in ME/CFS could expand treatment options and validate traditional medicine approaches that patients report finding helpful. This study identifies specific biological pathways—stress hormone dysregulation and neuroinflammation—that are relevant to ME/CFS pathophysiology and worth investigating further in human research.
This study does not prove that moxibustion is effective in humans with ME/CFS; animal models of fatigue do not necessarily translate to human disease. The findings show correlation between molecular changes and behavioral improvements in rats, but do not establish that progranulin upregulation is the direct cause of symptom relief. Results from one rat study cannot be generalized to human treatment effectiveness or safety without rigorous clinical trials.
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
Yi, Tao, Qi, Li, Li, Ji, Le, Jing-Jing, Shao, Lei, Du, Xin, et al. (2016). Moxibustion upregulates hippocampal progranulin expression.. Neural regeneration research. https://doi.org/10.4103/1673-5374.180746
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-yi-2016-moxibustion-upregulates,
author = {Yi, Tao and Qi, Li and Li, Ji and Le, Jing-Jing and Shao, Lei and Du, Xin and Dong, Jing-Cheng},
title = {Moxibustion upregulates hippocampal progranulin expression.},
journal = {Neural regeneration research},
year = {2016},
doi = {10.4103/1673-5374.180746},
note = {PubMed: 27212922},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yi-2016-moxibustion-upregulates},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/yi-2016-moxibustion-upregulates
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