STUDY PROTOCOL article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Sleep Disorders
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1504316
An Analysis of Electroacupuncture as Adjunctive Treatment for Insomnia: A New Perspective Targeting GABA-mediated Microbiome-gut-brain Axis
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
- 2School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
- 3Department of Physiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
- 4Department of Scientific Research, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China
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Introduction: Insomnia is a prevalent psychiatric disorder that significantly impacts mental and physical health. Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiota, particularly γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) producing bacteria, plays a critical role in the microbiome-gut-brain axis (MGBA), influencing sleep and mental states. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to have favorable anti-insomnia effects. This research protocol outlines a randomized controlled trial (RCT) designed to investigate the efficacy of EA in modulating GABA levels via the MGBA to alleviate insomnia.The study will use glutamate (Glu) concentrations of pchlorophenylalanine (PCPA) -induced insomnia rat model to examine whether EA at specific acupoints can increase GABA levels in the brain and plasma by enhancing the abundance of GABA-producing gut bacteria. A second experiment will transplant stool from insomnia rats into germ-free mice to evaluate the causal role of microbiota in insomnia pathology. Primary outcome measures include changes in GABA and Glu levels, data about the open field test, and gut microbiota composition.Discussion: This study will provide insights into the therapeutic mechanisms of EA targeting the MGBA in the treatment of insomnia and contribute to the development of novel therapeutic strategies.Center of Xiamen University (No. XMULAC20220100). The study findings will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed academic journals.
Keywords: insomnia, Electroacupuncture, γ-Aminobutyric acid, Gut Microbiota, microbiome-gut-brain axis
Received: 16 Oct 2024; Accepted: 14 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yan, Wang, Liu, Cai, Zhang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zuobing Zhang, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
Bin Yang, School of Medicine, Xiamen University, Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
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