Positive Health Online

Abstract

WANG and COLLEAGUES, 1. Department of Moxibustion and Massage, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, 300193, China; 2. Department of Acupuncture, The First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, 300193, China; 3. Department of Acupuncture, The First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin, 300193, China. jgzheng2008@163.com conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess efficacy and safety of acupuncture and  nimodipine [a calcium channel blocker] to treat post-cerebral infarction mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Background

Cerebral infarction frequently leads to mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Prompt management of MCI can prevent vascular dementia and improve patient outcome. This single center randomized controlled trial aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture and nimodipine to treat post-cerebral infarction MCI.

Methodology

A total of 126 Chinese patients with post-cerebral infarction MCI recruited from the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between April 2013 and June 2014 were randomized at 1:1: 1 ratio into nimodipine alone (30 mg/time and 3 times daily), acupuncture alone (30 min/time, 6 times/week), and nimodipine + acupuncture groups. The treatments were 3 months. Cognitive function was evaluated using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scale at enrolment interview, at the end of 3-month therapy, and at the post-treatment 3-month follow-up.

Results

The per-protocol set included 39, 40, and 40 patients from nimodipine alone, acupuncture alone, and the combination group, respectively, was analyzed. Intra-group comparison revealed that MoCA score at the follow-up improved significantly by 15.8 ± 10.9, 20.9 ± 13.8 %, and 30.2 ± 19.7 % compared with the baseline MoCA for nimodipine alone, acupuncture alone, and the combination group, respectively. Inter-group comparison demonstrated that the combination therapy improved MoCA score (5.5 ± 2.2) at significantly higher extent than nimodipine alone (3.1 ± 1.8) and acupuncture alone (4.3 ± 2.3) at the follow-up (All P < 0.05), and significantly higher proportion of patients in acupuncture alone group (80 %) and the combination therapy group (90 %) than in nimodipine alone group (56.4 %) showed ≥12 % MoCA score improvement compared with the baseline MoCA (All P < 0.05). No adverse event was reported during the study.

Conclusion

Acupuncture may be used as an additional therapy to conventional pharmacological treatment to further improve the clinical outcomes of patients with post-cerebral infarction MCI. Trial Registration: The study was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( http://www.chictr.org.cn, Unique Identifier: ChiCTR-IOR-15007366 ). The date of registration is November 4, 2015.

References

Wang S1, Yang H2, Zhang J2, Zhang B2, Liu T2, Gan L1, Zheng J3. Efficacy and safety assessment of acupuncture and nimodipine to treat mild cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Complement Altern Med.16:361. doi: 10.1186/s12906-016-1337-0. Sep 13 2016. Comments on "Efficacy and safety assessment of acupuncture and nimodipine to treat mild cognitive impairment after cerebral infarction: a randomized controlled trial". [BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017.]