A New Perspective of Acupuncture: The Interaction among Three Networks Leads to Neutralization

Abstract

Acupuncture has been used to treat multiple medical conditions, but whether the diverse effects of acupuncture are intrinsically linked and how they might be connected have yet to be determined. More and more researches have shown that acupuncture is a kind of nociceptive stimulus, which can cause inflammatory reaction in the sites of acupuncture and then further activate the nerve-endocrine-immune systems to cause the cascade amplification of the acupuncture effect. This review seeks to provide a comprehensive summary of the existing literature concerning the role of “acupoint-meridian-disease network” in various effects of acupuncture and suggest a novel notion that acupuncture may restore homeostasis under different pathological conditions by regulating this network, resulting in the activation of different reaction cascades in response to pathological injury. We think that acupuncture acts on acupoints, first activating the small network of acupoints (Acupoint Network). The information of acupuncture is amplified by cascade, and the nerve endocrine immune system (NEI) is activated through the large network of meridians (Meridian Network) of the body itself. The nerve-endocrine-immune system (NEI) further outputs the effect information to the target organ through multilevel and multisystems and finally acts on the disease network (Disease Network) to produce acupuncture effect.

Acupotomy Alleviates Energy Crisis at Rat Myofascial Trigger Points

“…Future research will focus on the mechanism by which acupotomy resolves energy crises in TrPs, peripheric or central? e general understanding of acupuncture mechanism is that the mechanical signals generated by needle insertion are converted into nerve signals through the acupoint and transmitted to the central nervous system and on to the efferent system and effector organs via the neuro-endocrineimmune system [45]. Further, acupuncture may have peripheral effects, independent of overall neurohumoral regulation [46,47].…”

The efficacy of using acupuncture in managing polycystic ovarian syndrome

“…Clinically, the selection of acupuncture points varies from practitioner to practitioner although they are based on similar traditional Chinese medicine principles. However, scientific studies can still conclude an overall link between acupuncture meridians to neuro-innervation, endocrine and immune functional modulation (24)(25)(26).…”

“…One theory is that acupuncture induces an inflammatory response in the surrounding tissue which further activates signalling pathways in the neural, endocrine and immune systems (25).…”

“…Acupuncture certainly firstly stimulate the nervous system by inducing the sensation of soreness, numbness, heaviness, which is different from a random point puncture. Such stimulation can also activate certain brain regions, especially the cortex, which further affect the innervation to the treatment targeting area/organ (24)(25)(26).…”

“…Different non-randomised clinical studies have also provided the evidence that acupuncture can stimulate the release luteinising hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, progesterone, and oestradiol in normally ovulating women, however, normalise their levels in women with ovulating dysfunction, including those with PCOS (31)(32)(33). This may be related to the impact of acupuncture stimulation to normalise the hypothalamic-pituitary ovarian axis, which in turn restore the menstruation cycle pattern in women with PCOS (24,25,34).…”