Effects of Acupuncture on Peripheral T Lymphocyte Subpopulation and Amounts of Cerebral Catecholamines in Mice

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of acupuncture on peripheral lymphocyte subpopulations and cerebral catecholamines. In order to examine the effects of acupuncture, two experiments were performed. Experiment 1: Eighteen female mice (strain; C57BL/6) at the age of 7 weeks were divided three groups, (a) sham operated (control; n=6), (b) ovariectomized (OVX; n=6), and (c) ovariectomized and stimulated by subcutaneous needles on acupuncture point, Shenshu (BL23) at the both sides of the back for 20 days (OVX+Acu; n=6). These animals were sacrificed at 20 days after needle insertion, and the splenic lymphoid cells were examined by two-color flow cytometry, using monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to the cell surface antigens, CD3, CD4, CD8a and NK1.1 (CD56). In the ovariectomized (OVX) group, the peripheral CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly increased and the ratio of natural killer (NK) cells (CD3-NK1.1+; CD3 negative, NK1.1 positive) to T lymphocytes was decreased compared to the sham control group. In the ovariectomized with needle insertion (OVX+Acu) group, the CD4/CD8 ratio was reduced, but the NK cells ratio was not changed compared to the OVX group. Experiment 2: To investigate the acute effects of subcutaneous needle insertion, male C57BL/6 mice (7 weeks old) were used (n=6, each group). The acupuncture points Shen-shu (BL23) on the backs of the male mice were also stimulated by subcutaneous needles for 3 and 7 days. As a result, the CD4/CD8 ratio was significantly decreased at day 3 and day 7, compared to the control group. On the other hand the NK cells ratio and activated T-cells were increased at day 7. The mitogenic activities in the splenic lymphocytes were also increased by acupuncture stimulation at day 3. Catecholamine contents in the hippocampus were measured by high performance liquid chromatography with the electro-chemical detector (ECD-HPLC) method. No significant change was observed in either dopamine contents or norepinephrine; however, dopamine metabolite, homovanillic acid (HVA) and DOPAC (3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid) were increased at day 3. The study suggests that acupuncture has effects on peripheral lymphocyte subpopulations and may modulate mitogenic activity. In addition, acupuncture may stimulate dopamine turnover.

Electroacupuncture Stimulation Suppresses the Increase in Alcohol-Drinking Behavior in Restricted Rats

“…Gao et al (1997) found that EAC of Tsu-San-Li significantly increased the -receptor binding sites in the striatum, septal nucleus, and amygdaloid nucleus but not in the nucleus accumbens and dorsal raphe nucleus. This agrees with the finding that EAC stimulates dopaminergic turnover (Okumura et al, 1999). It has been shown that EAC can cause the release of endogenous opioids to activate specific receptors, especially to increase -receptor binding sites (Chen and Han, 1992).…”

“…A frequency of 1 to 100 Hz, as used in the present study, is applied with animal models for rats, rabbits, and mice (Chang et al, 1995a(Chang et al, , 1996Okumura et al, 1999). The same procedures were carried out twice a week for 1 or 3 consecutive weeks.…”

Mechanisms of Action for Acupuncture in the Oncology Setting

“…In both human and animal models, flow cytometry reveals that acupuncture reduces levels of CD4+ and CD8+ cells, which are known to suppress overactive immune response and to increase cytotoxic NK cell activity [28,29]. One study of reaction to immuneand non-immune-related acupuncture points revealed not only T-cell modulation, but also an increase of soluble interleukin-2 receptor, and a decrease of cytokines interleukin-4 and interleukin-6.…”

Electroacupuncture Alleviates Intraoperative Immunosuppression in Patients Undergoing Supratentorial Craniotomy

“…16 Previous studies showed that surgical trauma suppressed T lymphocyte proliferation and EA administration restored suppressed lymphocyte proliferation. 17 Cheng et al 18 noted that EA at ST36 acupuncture point might increase lymphocyte proliferation of surgically traumatised rats. 8 These results also suggested that acupuncture might improve immunosuppression after surgical trauma.…”