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Review
. 2025 Mar;31(3):281-288.
doi: 10.1007/s11655-024-3660-5. Epub 2024 Jul 11.

Research Progress of Vagal Nerve Regulation Mechanism in Acupuncture Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

Lu-Lu Cao  1 , Hui-Rong Liu  1 , Ya-Jie Ji  2 , Yin-Tao Zhang  3 , Bing-Quan Wang  4 , Xiao-Hong Xue  2 , Pei Wang  5 , Zhi-Hui Luo  5 , Huan-Gan Wu  6
Affiliations
Review

Research Progress of Vagal Nerve Regulation Mechanism in Acupuncture Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation

Lu-Lu Cao et al. Chin J Integr Med. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in clinical practice. It has a high prevalence and poor prognosis. The application of antiarrhythmic drugs and even surgery cannot completely treat the disease, and there are many sequelae. AF can be classified into the category of "palpitation" in Chinese medicine according to its symptoms. Acupuncture has a significant effect on AF. The authors find that an important mechanism of acupuncture in AF treatment is to regulate the cardiac vagus nerve. Therefore, this article intends to review the distribution and function of vagus nerve in the heart, the application and the regulatroy effect for the treatment of AF.

Keywords: acupuncture; atrial fibrillation; autonomic nerve; review; vagus nerve.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest. The authors declared that there were no competing interests.

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