To investigate the effect of acupuncture combined with Shugan Decoction on sleep and neurotransmitter expression in patients with liver depression transforming fire syndrome insomnia.Methods:A total of 184 liver depression transforming fire symdrome insomnia patients in Jinan Fifth People's Hospital from December 2015 to January 2018 were selected as the study objects,and they were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group,with 92 cases in each group.The 2 groups were given routine treatment,and the observation group was treated with acupuncture combined with Shugan Decoction on that basis.4 weeks was a course of treatment.The two groups were treated continuously for 2 courses.The sleep status and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)symptom scores before and after treatment between the 2 groups were compared.The neurotransmitter expression in the 2 groups before and after treatment were detected and compared.Results:Compared with before treatment,the main TCM symptoms such as insomnia,restlessness,irritability,chest pain,headache and PSQI scores of the 2 groups significantly decreased after treatment(P<0.01),and the observation group was significantly lower than the control group(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Compared with before treatment,the serum levels of 5-HT increased significantly,while the serum levels of NE and DA decreased significantly(P<0.01); The peripheral blood levels of PKC mRNA and BDNF mRNA expression amount in the 2 groups increased significantly after treatment(P<0.01).There was significant difference between the 2 groups in above indexes(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Conclusion:Acupuncture combined with Shugan Decoction can significantly improve the sleep quality of patients with liver depression transforming fire syndrome insomnia.Its mechanism may be related to its regulation on the levels of neurotransmitters such as 5-HT,NE,DA,PKCmRNA and BDNFmRNA.The clinical effect is prominent.