Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies最新文献

Background: Despite the widespread clinical use of acupuncture in painful situations, the use of this treatment should be further clarified. Nociception is mediated by the activation of nociceptors, such as transient receptor potentials (TRPs). The family of TRPs includes TRPV1, TRPM8, and TRPA1, which can be stimulated by substances such as capsaicin, menthol, and methyl salicylate, respectively.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the role of TRPs in antinociception via the administration of agonists of these receptors in the Zusanli acupoint (ST36) in models of inflammatory, acute, and neuropathic pain.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were used for this experiment. All rats received a subcutaneous injection of TRP agonists (capsaicin, menthol, or methyl salicylate) in ST36; saline was injected as control. Nociception was evaluated using the electronic mechanical threshold test and tail-flick test before the administration of complete Freund's adjunct or chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve and after the administration of TRP agonists. Results: Nociception was found to be attenuated after treatment with TRP agonists. The administration of different doses (0.03, 0.3, and 3.0 μg/20 μL) of capsaicin, menthol, and methyl salicylate in the different pain models (neuropathic, inflammatory, and nociceptive) induced antinociception in most of the evaluated time points.

Conclusion: Based on the findings, we suggest that the activation of TRPV1, TRPM8, and TRPA1 receptors results in the antinociceptive effect of the stimulation of the ST36 acupoint. Thus, TRP receptors may present a new therapeutic opportunity for the control of inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

Background: Chronic pain is a complex phenomenon that brings physical and emotional impairments negatively impacting people's quality of life. The adoption of interventions such as ear acupuncture and dry cupping can represent a treatment option for people with chronic back pain.

Objectives: To investigate the effects of ear acupuncture combined with dry cupping therapy on the interference of pain with the daily activities and quality of life of adults with chronic back pain.

Methods: An open-label, randomized, parallel-group controlled clinical trial. One hundred and ninety-eight adults were randomized into control (CG - ear acupuncture) or experimental (EG - ear acupuncture combined with dry cupping) groups. Interventions were performed in five sessions, once a week, lasting five weeks. Evaluations were performed before the first session, after the last session, and seven days after the second evaluation, using the Brief Pain Inventory to assess the impact of pain on daily activities and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) to assess the quality of life.

Results: Between the initial and final sessions, there were significant changes in daily activities , activity, work, mood, relationships, sleep, and in the physical, psychological and social relationships domains for both the control and experimental groups. Improved perception of quality of life and satisfaction with health were observed for the participants in the experimental group.

Conclusion: Ear acupuncture combined with dry cupping showed better results in terms of perception of quality of life and satisfaction with health when compared to ear acupuncture by itself.

Background: Exercise therapy is the first choice non-pharmacotherapeutic approach for musculoskeletal pain; however, it often interferes with the implementation and continuation of exercise due to fear-avoidance behaviors. Trigger point acupuncture (TrPAcp) has been reported to reduce musculoskeletal pain.

Objectives: To examine the efficacy of exercise combined with TrPAcp compared to exercise alone for older patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP), the most common subjective symptom reported by old people of both sexes in Japan.

Methods: In this single-center randomized controlled trial conducted at Teikyo Heisei University, 15 men and women aged ≥ 65 years with low back pain for at least 3 months who met the eligibility criteria were included. The Ex+TrPAcp group received exercise and trigger point acupuncture, while the Ex group received only exercise for 3 months. The main outcome, pain intensity, was measured using the numerical rating scale (NRS). Improvement was defined as a decrease in NRS of ≥ 2 or less than moderate (NRS < 4).

Results: The analysis included 7 of 8 cases in the Ex+TrPAcp group and 7 of 7 cases in the Ex group. NRS improved in 6 of 7 and 1 of 7 patients in the intervention and control groups, respectively, with a significant difference between groups (p = 0.03, ϕ = 0.71). Regarding adverse events due to acupuncture, one patient (14.3%) complained of heaviness after acupuncture. Nothing specific was reported with exercise.

Conclusion: Compared with Ex alone, Ex+TrPAcp may be more effective therapy for older people with CLBP who do not have an exercise habit.

Background: Yamamoto New Scalp Acupuncture (YNSA) is a therapy based on the stimulation of points on the scalp and applied to treat different states of pain.

Objectives: To investigate the analgesic efficacy of YNSA for dogs undergoing radical unilateral mastectomy with ovariohysterectomy.

Methods: Twenty-four dogs were randomly distributed into two treatments (n = 12, per group): bilateral stimulation of basic B, D, and E points (YNSA group) and no application of acupuncture (control group). All dogs were sedated with morphine; anesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with isoflurane. Fentanyl was intraoperatively administered to control cardiovascular responses to surgical stimulation. Postoperative pain was assessed using an interactive visual analog scale (IVAS) and the short-form of the Glasgow Composite Pain Scale (CMPS-SF). Morphine was administered as rescue analgesia. Data were analyzed using t-tests, Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and Friedman test (p < 0.05).

Results: Intraoperatively, the number of dogs requiring supplemental analgesic and the number of doses of fentanyl were lower in the YNSA group than in the control group (p = 0.027-0.034). The IVAS pain scores recorded from 0.5 h to 1 h post-extubation in the YNSA group were lower than those in the control group (p = 0.021-0.023). Postoperative rescue analgesia and CMPS-SF pain scores did not differ between the groups.

Conclusion: YNSA decreases intraoperative fentanyl requirements and provides minimal postoperative analgesic benefits to dogs undergoing unilateral mastectomy with ovariohysterectomy.

Background: The cardiovascular system and airway smooth muscles are regulated by the autonomic nervous system.

Objectives: This study investigated the effect of electrical acupuncture stimulation near the cervical sympathetic ganglia on heart rate variability and respiratory function.

Methods: This prospective, single-center study at Teikyo Heisei University recruited 24 healthy adults randomly assigned to no-stimulation and electroacupuncture (EA) groups in a crossover trial with a 2-week washout period. After 5 min of rest, a 5-min rest or acupuncture stimulus was delivered, followed by a further 5 min of rest for both groups. EA, at 2-Hz (level of no pain), was delivered near the left cervical ganglia at the level of the sixth cervical vertebra in the EA group.

Results: The high-frequency component of the heart rate variability was significantly higher in the EA group than that in the no-stimulation group. Further, there was a significant increase in the high-frequency component of the heart rate in the EA group during the stimulation compared to before and after stimulation. Heart rate decreased significantly during EA compared to before stimulation in the EA group. Regarding respiratory function, forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, and peak flow significantly increased in the EA group compared with the no-stimulation group, and after stimulation compared with before stimulation.

Conclusion: Stimulation with 2-Hz EA near the cervical sympathetic trunk increased parasympathetic nerve activity and reduced heart rate. However, the respiratory function was activated via increased sympathetic nerve activity. Therefore, 2-Hz EA may be effective for autonomic nerve regulation in bronchial stenosis.

Background: Hyperplastic morphological changes associated with erythropoiesis have been reported in the primo vascular system (PVS) tissue on the surface of abdominal organs in rats with heart failure (HF) or hemolytic anemia (HA). Objectives: Since adrenergic activity is commonly activated in both HF and HA, we investigated whether adrenergic signaling mediates the abovementioned morphological changes.

Methods: We compared the effects of adrenolytic treatments (exercise training and 6-hydroxydopamine) on the gross morphology of the PVS tissues isolated from organ surfaces in HF or HA rats. HF and HA were induced by ligating the left coronary artery and injecting phenylhydrazine, respectively. We further compared the effects of norepinephrine and norepinephrine plus α- or β-adrenoceptor blockers.

Results: The number of samples per rat, PN size, and proportion of red-colored samples in the PVS tissue increased in the HF and HA rats. These changes were reversed by adrenolytic treatments. Interestingly, 6-hydroxydopamine also reversed phenylhydrazineinduced hemolytic changes in erythrocytes. Subcutaneous administration of norepinephrine (3 mg/kg/d) increased the sampling frequency per rat and the PN size, but these effects were blunted at a higher dose (10 mg/kg/d). Norepinephrine administration had little effect on the proportion of red-colored tissues. Norepinephrine-induced morphological changes were completely blocked by a β-adrenoceptor antagonist (propranolol) but increased slightly by an α-adrenoceptor antagonist (phentolamine).

Conclusion: Adrenergic signaling controls hyperplastic changes in the organ surface PVS in rats. These findings may explain the morphological dynamics of the PVS tissues proposed by Bong Han Kim and further clarify the pathophysiological roles of the PVS.

Introduction: Is Primo Vascular System (PVS) a paradox? Finding the connection between PVS as a carrier of information and the body's reactions at the micro and macro levels will be the starting point in understanding the meaning of life as such.

Before the past of pvs knowledge: The initial phase of medicine in all cultures is reduced to the transfer of specific energy by special pathways throughout the body! This is the case in China, India, Japan, Korea, Tibet, etc. Undoubtedly, the five articles by B. H. Kim published in the early 1960s are considered to be the past of PVS.

Strange present: PVS studies after 2002 are accepted as a present. Most of the articles on the topic are in journals with editors-in-chief originating and/or accepting the achievements of Eastern medicine. Is the science of PVS local since its research is in journals that publish mainly articles on Eastern medicine? Why few of the articles concerning PVS are in Western medicine journals?

Pvs: All substances, objects, biological objects generate a weak electromagnetic radiation typical for each of them which is a passport of the information. PVS has all the data to be the main carrier of information. Information medicine and Quantum Biology can serve as a basis for medicine and biomedical sciences, and it should explain the processes that exist for the change of DNA and organisms in.

Background: Intra-organic bone marrow node is predicted to be a part of the primo vascular system that plays a critical role in hematopoiesis and generation and regeneration of other cells. Two models of cell regeneration were suggested, one involving DNA synthesis and the other pertaining to DNA recycling. Objectives: The aim of this work is to extract a primo node from bone marrow, characterize its structure, understand its biochemistry and cell composition, and suggest a cell regeneration mechanism.

Methods: Primo nodes were sampled from segmented halves of the rat femur. We used immunohistochemistry and high-resolution fluorescent microscopy to analyze 1200 samples obtained from 42 rats and 190 primo nodes.

Results: Primo nodes in the bone marrow have an oval or round structure of about one millimeter in diameter, which is encompassed by a fine capsule, having incoming and outgoing vessels filled with the extracellular matrix and hematopoietic, mesenchymal, endothelial stem cells, as well as cells of the megakaryocyte family found in other primo nodes.

Conclusion: Our findings imply that bone marrow nodes are intra-organic primo vascular nodes, and they provide ways and approaches for further investigation. Bone marrow nodes are simple to examine ex vivo in a variety of environments to assess cell regeneration mechanisms, wound healing, and organism rejuvenation and lifespan. Further research into these and other intra-organic nodes in animals and humans could lead to new regenerative medicine and longevity strategies that have yet to be discovered.

The primo vascular system (PVS) is of great interest to scientists in the last few years. The PVS plays a role in stem cell migration, immune function, erythropoiesis, tissue regeneration, and cancer metastasis. Discovered by Bong Han Kim in 1960, the PVS was described as a new, independent system that is distributed in the body of different animals. Since then, several cells have been discovered as important constituents of the PVS. Endothelial cells are hallmarks for the identification of the PVS, as they line the sinuses of the primo vessels and are characterized by their arrangement of rod-shaped nuclei in a parallel, broken-line fashion along the primo vessels. Immune cells as mast cells, eosinophils, neutrophils, and lymphocytes are also hallmarks for the identification of the PVS. One of the most interesting cells in the PVS are p-microcells. Primo nodes are a stem cell niche due to their p-microcells content, which express stem cell biomarkers CD133 and Oct 4. Mature erythrocytes and hematopoietic stem cells have also been observed in the PVS. Hematopoietic stem cells were observed in the PVS. Hematopoietic Stem Cells are the source of the cellular component of blood. Additionally, adrenaline and noradrenaline-producing cells, mesothelial cells, and smooth-muscle-like cells have also been described in the PVS.

Background: The development of new methods of drug brain delivery is a crucial step for the effective therapy of the brain diseases. Pharma- and acupuncture are the forms of alternative therapy of the brain pathology, including an increase in the permeability of blood-brain barrier. However, the mechanisms of pharma- and acupuncture-mediated effects on the brain physiology remain not fully understood.

Results: This pilot study on healthy mice clearly demonstrates the Evans Blue spreading in the mouse head and in the brain via the perivascular spaces (PVSs) of the trigeminal structure and the cribriform plate after the dye injection into the Feng Chi point (Galbladder 20, GB20).

Conclusion: These results suggest that pharmacopuncture at GB20 can be a perspective method for brain drug delivery via PVSs.