Acupuncture for Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis integrating traditional insights and scientific evidence.

BACKGROUND

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a leading cause of dementia in the elderly, is characterized by progressive cognitive impairment, and still lacks effective therapeutic interventions.

OBJECTIVE

This systematic review synthesizes the classical theoretical foundations, clinical evidence, and modern mechanistic insights for the use of acupuncture to treat AD.

SEARCH STRATEGY: A meta-analysis was conducted based on a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP information, and Wanfang Data, covering the period from inception until September 2025.

INCLUSION CRITERIA: Eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) compared acupuncture (manual or electroacupuncture) with control interventions, including sham acupuncture, donepezil, placebo, or no treatment.

DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: Data were extracted by two reviewers working independently and then analyzed using the meta and meta for packages in R (v4.3.2). Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.

RESULTS

A total of 21 RCTs comprising 1354 participants met the inclusion criteria. Compared with no-treatment controls, acupuncture significantly improved cognitive performance, as measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) (WMD = 3.74, 95% CI: 1.34-6.14), and outperformed placebo controls (WMD = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.39-2.87). Acupuncture showed efficacy comparable to that of donepezil on MMSE and Activity of Daily Living (ADL), suggesting non-inferiority to standard pharmacotherapy. Frequently used acupoints included GV20, ST36, GB20, LR3, and ST40, often combining local (GV24, EX-HN1) and distal (SP10, KI3) points. Reported adverse events were mild and transient, with no significant difference from controls. Biomarker analyses indicated that acupuncture enhanced acetylcholine levels and reduced plasma Aβ1-40, Aβ1-42, and Tau levels, implying modulation of cholinergic transmission and AD-related pathology.

CONCLUSION

This review highlights acupuncture as a holistic, multi-targeted therapy with promising potential for managing AD. Future research should aim to standardize acupuncture protocols, integrate TCM syndrome differentiation, and adopt neurobiological and imaging techniques to explore mechanisms. Please cite this article as: Huang WL, Wang LL, Shi JR, Liu Q. Acupuncture for Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis integrating traditional insights and scientific evidence. J Integr Med. 2026; Epub ahead of print.