Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Jul 15;45(1):292.
doi: 10.1007/s10792-025-03656-6.

Acupuncture for retinitis pigmentosa: a comprehensive review

Kai Wu  1   2 , Yunfeng Yu  2 , Rong Hu  1   2 , Canming Xie  1   2 , Xiaolei Yao  3
Affiliations
Review

Acupuncture for retinitis pigmentosa: a comprehensive review

Kai Wu et al. Int Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

No notable developments in the existing therapeutic approaches for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) exist to date, leaving many patients seeking alternative treatments. Among these alternatives, acupuncture has gained increasing popularity among physicians due to its perceived effectiveness. Acupuncture has been applied in the treatment of RP and has achieved good therapeutic effects, as reflected in the improvement of vision. However, the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of acupuncture in treating RP remains unclear. This study suggests that acupuncture mainly achieves the goal of treating RP by inhibiting photoreceptor cell death, improving retinal blood flow status, and enhancing the corresponding brain function. Furthermore, this study delineated the efficacy, safety, and prospective avenues of acupuncture in the treatment of RP. We believe that acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for RP has a certain potential; in the future, a combination of molecular biology and multi-center clinical studies is required to further verify its efficacy and optimize treatment plans.

Keywords: Acupuncture; Efficacy; Mechanism; Photoreceptor cells; Retinitis pigmentosa; Safety.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Ethics approval: This review relies solely on analysis of existing literature and does not include new experimental research; therefore, ethical approval is not required. Consent to participate: This review relies solely on analysis of existing literature and does not include new experimental research; therefore, participant consent is not required. Consent to publish: Not applicable.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Bruninx R, Lepièce G (2020) Retinitis pigmentosa. Rev Med Liege 75(2):73–74 - PubMed
    1. Verbakel SK, van Huet RAC, Boon CJF et al (2018) Non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa. Prog Retin Eye Res 66:157–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.preteyeres.2018.03.005 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nguyen XT, Moekotte L, Plomp AS et al (2023) Retinitis pigmentosa: current clinical management and emerging therapies. Int J Mol Sci. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24087481 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Liu W, Liu S, Li P et al (2022) Retinitis pigmentosa: progress in molecular pathology and biotherapeutical strategies. Int J Mol Sci. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23094883 - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Carullo G, Federico S, Relitti N et al (2020) Retinitis pigmentosa and retinal degenerations: deciphering pathways and targets for drug discovery and development. ACS Chem Neurosci 11(15):2173–2191. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.0c00358 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources