via Kurzweil AI
Stimulating the nervous system using small electric current by acupuncture could tamp down systemic inflammation in the body, suggests new research in mice from a team of neuroscientists in the U.S. and China. The research, publishing August 12 in the journal Neuron, helps to map the neuroanatomical underpinnings of this ancient medical practice.
“Most Western medicine has been focusing on blocking the neural pathways of pain to relieve the symptoms, but there are so many pain pathways and so many ways to open each of them,” says senior author Qiufu Ma, a researcher at Harvard Medical School who has been studying the neuroanatomic basis of pain for years. Inspired by the core ideology of traditional Chinese medicine, which is to treat a disease by addressing the root cause, Ma and his team aim to target inflammation, a common source of human diseases and pain.
Previous studies have shown direct vagal nerve stimulations in the neck region can help reduce inflammation, but these experimental approaches require invasive procedures. With this in mind, Ma and his team set out to investigate whether and how electric stimulation using acupuncture, which only involves inserting thin needles through the skin, can modulate inflammation.
The team began by giving mice a 15-minute electroacupuncture at 3 mA at a specific site on the abdomen. This acupoint, dubbed ST25, has been associated with nerves of the spleen, which is a major organ involved in immune responses.
The team then simulated a life-threatening inflammatory condition that is often seen in patients suffering severe bacterial or virus infections by injecting mice with a compound called lipopolysaccharide (LPS). After injecting the treated mice with LPS, researchers found the serum levels of pro-inflammatory molecules in these animals was significantly lower than that of the control group. The mice’s survival rates also more than doubled. However, when the team gave mice the electroacupuncture after the LPS shot, the treated mice had much greater inflammation than those that were untreated and did not survive.
By comparing the effect of electroacupuncture in mice with an altered nervous system, the team determined that high intensity stimulation at the abdomen could excite norepinephrine-producing nerves that connect the spine and spleen. The norepinephrine then activated a particular type of receptors in the spleen that suppressed pro-inflammatory molecules. But when LPS was introduced first, another type of splenic receptors–pro-inflammatory in this case–became highly expressed, and the subsequent electroacupuncture therapy further enhanced inflammation.
“We were really surprised to find that the same input has completely opposite outcomes in different disease stages,” Ma says. “But a lot of the time, a patient would only come to us if they already have the disease. So we wanted to find out if there is a way to reduce inflammation as a treatment.”
The team then conducted electroacupuncture at a different acupoint, this time on mice’s hindlegs. They found stimulation at a low intensity of 0.5 mA for 15 minutes could significantly reduce pro-inflammatory molecule levels either before or after LPS-injection. Mice’s survival rate after electroacupuncture also increased by 1-fold or more. A genetically modified mice model suggests that low-level electroacupuncture at hindlegs reduced inflammation not though the spleen, but a different neural pathway involving the vagus nerves and the adrenal glands.
“Our study illustrated that electroacupuncture has neuroanatomic basis, but its efficacy and safety on humans need to be validated in clinical trials,” Ma says. “There’s still many questions unanswered about this medical practice and thus a lot of room to do more research.”
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Electroacupuncture
- Why trigger points cause so much pain—and how you can relieve it
Knots in your muscles can arise from stress, anxiety, and even vitamin deficiencies. So how can they be treated?
- Alternative Remedies for Acid Reflux and GERD
Electroacupuncture (EA), another form of acupuncture, uses electrical current along with the needles. Research remains limited in this area, but one study found that using needleless EA was ...
- Acupuncture and Cancer Survivorship: The Missing Piece
Cancer survivors report poorer health and well-being than people who have not had cancer; many suffer chronic consequences of cancer and its treatments. Acupuncture can and should be considered part ...
- Dose-effect relationship between electroacupuncture and the regulation of endogenous opioid peptide system
The quantity of acupuncture stimulus can be controlled accurately by using electroacupuncture. In a new study published in the World Journal of Acupuncture—Moxibustion, a team of researchers ...
- Didenko Lab Publications
View publication. Meerson FZ, Beloshitskiĭ PV, Radzievskiĭ SA, Vorontsova EIa, Didenko VV. [Effect of transauricular electroacupuncture on ischemic and reperfusion arrhythmia under mid-altitude ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Electroacupuncture
[google_news title=”” keyword=”electroacupuncture” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Systemic inflammation
- Western diet linked to chronic diseases by gut microbiota disruption
The Western diet disrupts gut microbiota and gut barrier function, increasing the risk of non-communicable chronic diseases through chronic low-grade inflammation.
- AB Science announces issuance of a European patent for masitinib in the treatment of severe mastocytosis with protection until 2036
PRESS RELEASEAB SCIENCE ANNOUNCES ISSUANCE OF A EUROPEAN PATENT FOR MASITINIB IN THE TREATMENT OF SEVERE MASTOCYTOSIS WITH PROTECTION UNTIL ...
- Obesity has been linked to 32 types of cancer
Beyond these common cancers, the research also points to a potential link between obesity and cancers in less common locations, such as the small intestine and pituitary gland. Additionally, head and ...
- Americans Are Lonelier than Europeans in Middle Age
The lack of a safety net in the U.S. is a big factor that explains why Americans feel lonelier than Danes or Swedes ...
- Study shows that high Mediterranean dietary adherence lowers systemic inflammation in elders
The relationship between high Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) adherence and decreased low-grade systemic inflammation.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Systemic inflammation
[google_news title=”” keyword=”systemic inflammation” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]