Comparative effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of acupuncture approaches in IBS-D animal models: a protocol for systematic review and network meta-analysis

作者：Meiyi Zhu, Lun Li, Di Zhang, Yuan Fang, Jia Huang, Jiahui Yang, Y. Liu, Xiumei Yan, Tian Zhang, Jiaqiang Jiang, Qinhong Zhang, Fan Jiang · 发表于：Systematic Reviews · 年份：2026 · DOI：10.1186/s13643-026-03162-5 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Gastrointestinal motility and disorders、Acupuncture Treatment Research Studies、Menstrual Health and Disorders

Irritable bowel syndrome with predominant diarrhea (IBS-D) is a type of functional gastrointestinal disorder mainly marked by abdominal discomfort and frequent loose stools. Its complex pathogenesis involves multiple factors, such as low-grade intestinal inflammation, brain-gut axis dysregulation, and visceral hypersensitivity. Although acupuncture therapies show the potential to alleviate IBS-D symptoms, systematic evidence regarding their comparative efficacy and underlying mechanisms remains lacking. Methods A systematic search will be conducted across eight major databases: CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, CBM disc, PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CENTRAL. This search will aim to comprehensively collect randomized controlled animal studies on acupuncture therapies for IBS-D. Two independent researchers will extract and record basic study information, characteristics of experimental animals, intervention details, and outcome measures. The primary outcome to be evaluated will be the minimal volume threshold for the abdominal withdrawal reflex (AWR). Secondary outcome measures will include the loose stool rate and levels of biomarkers such as IL-1β, TNF-α, SP, and 5-HT. Data collected will be analyzed utilizing R 4.4.1 and Stata 17.0 software for frequentist network meta-analysis to compare the efficacy of various acupuncture treatment options in IBS-D animal models. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) will be calculated as the primary effect m...