Abstract

To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) treament on regions remote from the application, we measured cellular, enzymatic, and transcriptional activities in various internal tissues of healthty rats. The EA was applied to the well-identified acupoint ST36 of the leg. After application, we measured the activity of natural killer cells in the spleen, gene expression in the hypothalamus, and the activities of antioxidative enzymes in the hypothalamus, liver and red blood cells. The EA treatment increased natural killer cell activity in the spleen by approximated. 44%. It also induced genes related to pain, including 5-Hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 3a (Htr3a) and Endothelin receptor type B (Ednrb) in the hypothalamus, and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase in the hypothalamus, liver, and red blood cells. These findings indicate that EA mediates its effects through changes in cellular activity, gene expression, and enzymatic activity in mutliple remote tissues. The sum of these alterations may explain the beneficial effects of EA. © KSMCB 2008.

Author keywords

Acupoint ST36; Electro-acupuncture; Gene expression; Oxidative stress; Reactive oxygen species; Remote tissues

Indexed keywords

EMTREE drug terms: antioxidant; argipressin; endothelin receptor; glutathione peroxidase; glutathione transferase; glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase; macrophage migration inhibition factor; neurotransmitter transporter; serotonin 3 receptor; somatostatin; superoxide dismutase

EMTREE medical terms: animal cell; animal experiment; animal tissue; antioxidant activity; article; cell activity; controlled study; electroacupuncture; enzyme activity; erythrocyte; gene expression; gene induction; genetic transcription; hypothalamus; liver cell; natural killer cell; nonhuman; pain; rat; reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction; spleen cell

MeSH: Acupuncture Points; Animals; Electroacupuncture; Hypothalamus; Killer Cells, Natural; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Organ Specificity; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reactive Oxygen Species; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Superoxide Dismutase; Transcription, Genetic; Up-Regulation
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.

Species Index: Rattus

Chemicals and CAS Registry Numbers: argipressin, 113-79-1; glutathione peroxidase, 9013-66-5; glutathione transferase, 50812-37-8; glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase, 9001-50-7; somatostatin, 38916-34-6, 51110-01-1; superoxide dismutase, 37294-21-6, 9016-01-7, 9054-89-1;Reactive Oxygen Species; Superoxide Dismutase, EC 1.15.1.1