To explore the effects of acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for intravenous thrombolytic treatment on peripheral inflammatory cytokines and neurologic function in acute ischemic stroke patients.

Acute ischemic stroke patients who were treated in Hai'an Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital from March 2018 to March 2021 were selected, and divided into a control group (intravenous thrombolytic treatment with urokinase and ulinastatin) and an acupuncture group (intravenous thrombolytic treatment with urokinase and ulinastatin and acupuncture) by the order of admission. The treatment for both groups lasted for four consecutive weeks. The levels of peripheral CRP, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-8 were compared at baseline, two and four weeks of treatment between the groups. Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL) and NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS) were used to assess pre- and post-treatment activities of daily living and neurologic function, respectively. Clinical efficacy was evaluated.

A total of 324 patients were included, equally divided into control and acupuncture groups. Both groups had no significant differences in sex ratio, mean age, time interval between symptom onset, the first medical visit, incidence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus and hyperlipidemia (P>0.05) . The levels of peripheral CRP, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-8 demonstrated no significant intergroup differences at baseline (P>0.05) , but they decreased more obviously at two and four weeks of treatment in the acupuncture group (P<0.05) . The ADL and NIHSS scores were similar in both groups at baseline (P>0.05) , but ADL score increased and NIHSS score decreased significantly in acupuncture group at four weeks of treatment (P<0.05) . The overall clinical efficacy of the acupuncture group 〔91.36% (148/162) 〕 was significant higher than that of the control group 〔79.01% (128/162) 〕 (χ²=9.783, P=0.002) .

As an adjuvant therapy for intravenous thrombolytic treatment, acupuncture could enhance the treatment effects on reducing peripheral inflammatory cytokines, and improving neurologic function recovery as well as activities of daily living, indicating that it may have a good clinical efficacy.