The analgesic effects and local response to microcirculation of acupuncture

摘要

Purpose: Although the local response induced by acupuncturemanipulation has been considered to be among theimportant factors that induce the effects of acupuncture, thisconnection has not yet been properly studied with standardizedtools. The aims of this study are to examine the localchanges in microcirculation that occur at different manipulationintensities and explore any associations of these changeswith the analgesic effects of acupuncture.Methods: Twelve healthy volunteers received threeacupuncture interventions, only an insertion, a single manipulation,and repeated manipulations, at the right LI4 (Heguor Hapgok) in a random order. Skin blood perfusion wasmeasured within a 100 mm2 area ellipse centered on LI4using laser Doppler perfusion imaging (LDPI). Pressure painthresholds were measured at ipsilateral areas, including acupointsST25 (abdomen), LI5 (hand), LI10 (arm) and SP9 (leg).Heart rate variability as a biomarker for autonomic nervoussystem (ANS) were measured using an electrocardiogramamplifier.Results: We found that repeated acupuncture manipulationsenhanced microcirculatory perfusion compared toinsertion only (p<0.01) and single manipulation (p< 0.05) conditions.The analgesic effects of acupuncture manipulationsat ST25 exhibited a pattern of changes that was similar tothe pattern of changes in perfusion (p<0.05 vs. insertion) andwere mildly correlated with the changes in perfusion (r=0.393,p=0.018). There was no correlation between the change inmicrocirculation and activity of ANS.Conclusion: These results indicate that acupunctureinduced local microcirculatory changes that were detected byLDPI, which may represent an index of proper acupuncturestimulation.