As key sites where qi and blood from the meridians infuse into the body surface, acupoints exhibit temperature specificity, which is of great significance for both acupuncture theory and clinical practice. While numerous studies have reported patterns of temperature variations across different acupoints, systematic and comprehensive analyses remain scarce. This study investigates temperature specificity at acupoints using infrared thermography and reveals the following: (1) significant temperature differences exist between acupoint and non-acupoint areas, with variations across physiological states and needling interventions; (2) the symmetry and balance of acupoint temperatures reflect the body′ s physiological status—healthy individuals exhibit symmetrical and balanced temperatures, whereas pathological states disrupt this pattern; (3) under different disease conditions, acupoint temperatures demonstrate bidirectional changes, which may provide a basis for auxiliary diagnosis and treatment; (4) acupoint temperature profiles align closely with meridian theory, and different acupuncture modalities exert distinct regulatory effects. This paper summarizes the patterns of temperature variation at acupoints and provides guidance for clinical practice and future research directions.

Central nervous system (CNS) diseases are complicated in the pathogenesis, unclear in mechanism, poor in prognosis and high in mortality. Ferroptosis is a new type of programmed cell death characterized by iron mediated lipid peroxidation. The studies in recent years have found that the pathological mechanism of the occurrence and development of various CNS diseases is closely related to ferroptosis of nerve cells. Acupuncture can intervene in CNS diseases by regulating ferroptosis of nerve cells. This paper introduces the exploration on the coordination of ferroptosis with the occurrence and development of CNS diseases and the effect mechanism of acupuncture. It is pointed out that the regulation of ferroptosis is an important mechanism of acupuncture on CNS diseases in view of multidimensional aspects, which is specially related to reducing brain iron load, alleviating oxidative stress, promoting the repair of mitochondrial function, and protecting neurons.