The effects of acupuncture on cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse studies of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Study protocol of a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging. The major clinical features of both are progressive memory loss and progressive cognitive loss. The objective of this systematic review protocol is to provide the methods for evaluating the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment on cognitive deficits in transgenic mouse. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will search the electronic databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, as well as the Chinese databases such as Chinese Biomedicine Literature (CBM), Chinese Medical Current Content (CMCC), Chinese Scientific Journal Database (VIP), WanFang Database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) from their inceptions to July 2019. RevMan 5.3 software will be used for the data synthesis and the quality of each study was assessed independently by use of the CAMARADES checklist. RESULTS: This review will provide a high-quality synthesis based on present evidence of acupuncture treatment for AD and MCI in transgenic mouse models. CONCLUSIONS: This systematic review will provide evidence for weather acupuncture is an effective intervention for AD and MCI in transgenic mouse models. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is not necessary since this protocol is only for systematic review and does not involve privacy data or conduct an animal experiment. This protocol will be disseminated by a peer-review journal or conference presentation. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: PROSPERO CRD42019142985. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY: This systematic review will be the first to provide new knowledge underlying the effectiveness to improve cognitive function of acupuncture treatment for AD and MCI in transgenic mouse models. The result of this systematic review may provide experimental and theoretical basis for the future clinical application of acupuncture in the treatment of AD. The limitation of this systematic review may come from language barriers, because only English and Chinese can be included. Also, this study includes various kinds of acupuncture treatments which may result in essential heterogeneity.