Acupunct Electrother Res. 2002 ; 27(1): 15-27.

Neuroimmunal regulation of electroacupuncture (EA) on the traumatic rats.

Zhao H, Du LN, Jiang JW, Wu GC, Cao XD.

National Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Institute of Acupuncture Research, WHO Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine, Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, PR China.

EA has a wide range of function, many of them is mediated by the release of the endogenous opioid peptides. Using surgical traumatic stress model, it was observed that EA could improve the depression of cell mediated immune response. Based on the above results, we focused our work on the elucidation of the mechanism of EA in the central nervous system. The results showed that trauma amplified the activity of peritoneal macrophage, but inhibited Orphanin FQ and its receptor NP4 transcripts in the central nervous system, in the mean time, IL-1beta transcripts in the central nervous system was also augmented. EA stimulation of"Zusanli" (St. 36) and "Lanwei" (Extra. 37) points could inhibit all the above responses, but it had no influence on the normal rat. The results suggested that EA could modulate immune response via the interaction between Orphanin FQ and IL-1beta.