Neuron: Ma Qiufu's team reports that acupuncture activates different autonomous neural paths to regulate systemic inflammation.

Clinical studies have shown that needles have a certain regulatory effect on systemic inflammation.
early this century, research by Kevin Tracey and others found that electrical stimulation of the neck walk nerve inhibited the inflammatory response induced by lipid polysaccharide (LPS), revealing for the first time the mechanism of autonomic nerve-immune regulation.
Then Professor Cao Xiaoding of Fudan University, Zhu Bing Researcher of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Professor Wang Xiangrui of Shanghai Jiaotu University, Luis Ulloa of Rutgers University in the United States, respectively, used different acupressure needle methods to replace the invasive direct stimulation of the virtuosity nerve, and also obtained good anti-inflammatory effects.
however, whether different points of the needle body table can activate other autonomic nerve reflexes, and how to play the regulation of inflammation-immunity under different state and stimulation parameters of the body, has yet to be specified.
Addition, the autonomic nervous system itself has a diversity of cell types and functions, but the lack of scientific research tools to specifically manipulate various subtypes of autonomous nerve cells, thus hindering the in-depth study of needle regulation of autonomic nerves.
August 12, 2020, the research team of Professor Ma Qiufu of Harvard Medical School (first author is Postdoctoral Liu Shenbin) published an article in the journal Neuron, "Somatotopic Organization and Intensity Dependence in Driving NPY-Expressing Sympathetic Pathways by Electroacupuncture".
researchers used modern genetic techniques to specifically label and manipulate a class of subtypes of intersecting cells expressing neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the mice's peri-peri-perverse nervous system.
they found that in preverse intersecting nerves such as Suparenal ganglia and adrenal myelin, which dominate the abdominal organs, these cells mark most of the sympathetic nerve cells.
addition, these sympathetic nerves are widely projected into immune-related organs, such as the spleen.
The team's researchers, using specific knockout, silence, and activation of these intersecting cells in the outer perturbation nerve joints or adrenal myelin, as well as a model of a systemic inflammatory response induced by LPS, found three patterns of needle regulation: (1) the presence of needle-specific locations: 0.5 mA) needle after limb site acupressure foot three miles (ST36) can be activated by activating the "lost nerve - adrenal NPY and myelin cells" path, inhibit the LPS induced systemic inflammatory response, and this anti-inflammatory path can not be activated by the abdominal acuity center (ST25).
(2) there is needle strength specificity: that is, different stimulation strength can activate different autonomic neural loops.
abdominal acupressure (ST25) high-intensity (3.0 mA) needle stimulation activates NPY plus peri-peri-perturbation neurons projected into immune organs such as the spleen, thereby suppressing LPS-induced inflammation, while ST25 is low-intensity (0.5 mA) Stimulation can not activate this pathway; low-intensity needle stimulation of the back limb foot three-li point (ST36) is sufficient to activate the "lost nerve-adrenal NPY-myelin cell" pathway, while ST36 high-intensity needle stimulation can activate the "spinal cord-sympathetic" reflex to play its joint anti-inflammatory role.
(3) There is a bidirectional effect of acupuncture regulation: if the LPS induces systemic inflammation before it occurs, give the abdominal acuity (sky center, ST25) high-intensity electronem stimulation, by activating the outer NPY-sympathetic neurons, and play beta 2-The anti-inflammatory effect of the epinephrine receptonic mediated, while after LPS induced inflammation, the same abdominal acuity and stimulation intensity were applied, but the effect of inflammation was obvious, mainly due to the increased expression of alpha2-epinephrine recepirtoxes that LPS induced to promote inflammation.
on the contrary, no matter before or after LPS induces inflammation, low-intensity needles of the foot three-point (ST36) can inhibit the inflammatory response by activating the "lost nerve-adrenal NPY-myelin cell" pathway.
the above results show that the needle surface acuity can induce a variety of body sensory-autonomous nerve-target organ reflex path, play a role in regulating the body's immune-inflammation.
this regulatory effect is related to the point, stimulation strength and body state.
the study enriches the modern scientific connotation of body surface therapy such as acupuncture, and provides an important scientific basis for clinical optimization of acupuncture parameters, improvement of treatment effectiveness and safety.
, the research was supported by Professor Wang Yanqing of Fudan University and Researcher Jing Zhihong of the Institute of Acupuncture of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Zhifu, Associate Professor wang Zhifu of Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Dr. Yu Yangshuai of the Institute of Acupuncture of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine participated in the work of this study.
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