Volume 23 Issue 8
Aug.  2025
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Article Navigation >  Chinese Journal of General Practice  > 2025  >  23(8): 1382-1386
FENG Peipei, YU Wei, HE Min, SHEN Zui. Ancient and modern studies on acupuncture for anxiety and depression from the perspective of spleen and stomach meridians[J]. Chinese Journal of General Practice, 2025, 23(8): 1382-1386. doi: 10.16766/j.cnki.issn.1674-4152.004139
Citation: FENG Peipei, YU Wei, HE Min, SHEN Zui. Ancient and modern studies on acupuncture for anxiety and depression from the perspective of spleen and stomach meridians[J]. Chinese Journal of General Practice, 2025, 23(8): 1382-1386. doi: 10.16766/j.cnki.issn.1674-4152.004139
shu

Ancient and modern studies on acupuncture for anxiety and depression from the perspective of spleen and stomach meridians

doi: 10.16766/j.cnki.issn.1674-4152.004139
  • 1.

    Zhejiang Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Department of Acupuncture-Moxibustion, Tongde Hospital of Zhejiang Province of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310012, China

Funds:

 82205278

 LY24H270006

 2024KY1232

 2022JKZKTS46

  • Received Date: 2024-09-23
    Available Online: 2025-10-31
    Abstract
  • In recent years, the incidence of anxiety and depression has continued to rise, with an increasing number of affected patients seeking treatment in acupuncture departments. Currently, clinical acupuncture treatment for anxiety and depression focused on the Heart Meridian (Pericardium Meridian) and Liver Meridian, aiming to calm the mind and spirit while relieving liver stagnation and depression. However, patients with anxiety and depression in acupuncture department are not experiencing these symptoms for the first-time, rarely, they have endured long-term or recurrent conditions. In light of the principles that "excessive thinking injures the spleen" and "prolonged illness injures the spleen", the clinical treatment of anxiety and depression with acupuncture needs to emphasize the regulation of the spleen-stomach meridians (acupoints). However, relatively little research has investigated the treatment of anxiety and depression from the perspective of the spleen-stomach meridians (acupoints). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a long-standing understanding of anxiety and depression, although it does not refer to them explicitly as "anxiety" or "depression". Instead, relevant symptoms are dispersed among diseases such as "dian kuang" (mania and delirium) and "yu zheng" (depression syndrome). This article begins by examining records from classical Chinese medical literature to explore the relationship between the spleen-stomach meridians (acupoints) and anxiety and depression from four aspects: the direct correlation with anxiety and depression, the relationship through the regulation of qi and blood, and their indirect connections through the heart/liver with anxiety and depression. It excavates and summarizes the relevance of the spleen-stomach meridians (acupoints) to anxiety and depression within the theoretical framework of TCM theory. Finally, from the perspective of modern biomedical science, the article focuses on the gut microbiota-vagus nerve-brain axis to elucidate the potential material basis and scientific underpinnings of the association between the spleen-stomach meridians (acupoints) and anxiety and depression. In summary, this article aims to deepen the clinical application of acupuncture in the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression by integrating classical theory with modern research. It provides diagnostic and therapeutic insights and contributes to the development of acupuncture treatment strategies for mental health conditions.

     

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