BACKGROUND: Acupuncture therapy is a kind of remarkable curative means of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of migraine, and the pain can often be alleviated as soon as the needle is inserted. Consequently, it is worth making further study. OBJECTIVE: To study the clinic effect and the biochemical mechanism of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine. DESIGN: Case-control study on the basis of diagnosis. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS and INTERVENTION: Totally 63 patients with migraine were enrolled and divided into 2 groups at random: acupuncture group (32 cases) and control group (31 cases). The effect of the acupuncture therapy was observed after treatment, and the levels of PAF, TXB, and 6-keto-PGF in the plasma of the patients were observed before and after treatment. Besides, 20 healthy volunteers were selected as normal controls. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The effect of the acupuncture on the symptoms of migraine and the influence of it on the levels of PAF, TXB and 6-keto-PGF. RESULTS: Obvious therapeutic effect was gained for migraine, the effect was better than that of the control group (Chi2 = 3.9459. p < 0.05), and the total effective rate was 90.6%. For the patients with migraine, the levels of PAF, TXB, and 6-keto-PGF were higher before treatment as compared with those of the normal control group (t = 6.416 to 13.144, p < 0.01). After treatment the levels of the m in the acupuncture group (18.13 +/- 1.90 micro/L, 99.65 +/- 36.43, 20.71 +/- 4.65 micro/L) were lower in comparison with those of the control group (22.41 +/- 2.44 micro/L, 130.56 +/- 49.74, 29.67 +/- 6.78 micro/L) (t = 2.807 to 7.752, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: PAF, TXB, and 6-keto-PGF all have relations to the pathogenesis of migraine and can be adjusted by acupuncture.

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