Intradermal Acupuncture Based on Changes in Biological Specificity of Acupoints for Major Depressive Disorder

Part 1: This study will include 50 patients with MDD (MDD group) and 50 HC participants (HC group). PTG and IRT, respectively, will be adopted to assess 2 kinds of biological specificity of MDD-related acupoints: pain sensitivity specificity and thermal specificity. Based on the results of the PTG and IRT tests, the potentially superior acupoints for the treatment of MDD will be selected separately. After statistical analysis of the data from PTG and IRT tests, 4 pressure pain threshold strong response acupoints (PSA) and 4 temperature strong response acupoints (TSA) will be selected, respectively. This part of the trial began on January 10, 2022, and its registration number is NCT06114342. Part 2: A total of 160 participants with MDD who meet the inclusion criteria will be included in the study. Patients with MDD who met the criteria will be randomly divided 1:1:1:1 into 4 groups: wait-listed treatment (WL) group, clinical common acupoint (CCA) group, TSA group, and PSA group. All participants received basic therapeutic medication for the use of one or more antidepressants. Dosing and dosage will be adjusted by a specialist. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the MOS item short form health survey (SF-36) will be used as clinical efficacy outcome indicators, and each group's incidence of adverse effects will be observed. This study will investigate the effectiveness and safety of IA based on changes in the biological specificity of acupoints for MDD.