Assessment of acupuncture's effectiveness in treating gulf war illness using laser induced breakdown spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

In an effort to contribute to define whether Gulf War Illness (GWI) has physiological aspects, we evaluated the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment by measuring blood plasma metal levels and comparing them to the McGill pain scores of 22 patients. We analyzed the blood plasma samples of 22 GWI patients who underwent 2 acupuncture treatments per week. We analyzed the blood metal levels of these patients at baseline and after 2 and 4 months of treatment with acupuncture using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). Principal component analysis (PCA) loadings of the LIBS data revealed that emission lines of sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium were key features differentiating the two types of blood plasma samples. We also conducted inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) measurements on the same samples and compared the findings to the McGill pain scores of the patients. Levels of sodium, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, copper, and zinc for all 22 patients were measured using ICP-MS. We observed after 2 and 4 months of acupuncture treatment, the Pearson correlation coefficient of the McGill pain score and the concentrations of phosphorus (P), and zinc (Zn), exhibit a moderate positive correlation with changes in the McGill pain score, with Pearson correlation coefficients of 47 % ( p = 0.026) for the 0–2-month period, 45 % ( p = 0.038) for the 0–4-month period, and 42 % ( p = 0.05) for the 0–2-month period, respectively. Sodium (Na) exhibits a nearly moderate correlation, with a Pearson coefficient of 39 % and a p -value of 0.07. Our result suggests a potential link between element concentrations, acupuncture treatment and pain response. • Analyzed blood plasma samples of 22 GWI patients treated with acupuncture. • Compared McGill pain scores to metal levels in GWI patients treated by acupuncture. • Found >40 % Pearson correlation for pain scores and P, Zn levels with p ≤ 0.05. • Suggest a potential link between element levels, acupuncture, and pain response.