Understanding Acupuncture
An example of this newer approach was undertaken within an established
system of pain relief. In this investigation, the experimental groups consisted
of normal rats, rats with a particular pain condition, and rats with the pain
condition treated with an electroacupuncture protocol shown to reduce pain from
that condition. Tissue samples from each group were analyzed for the expression
of 8,400 genes, and a sub-set of genes was identified which was altered between
normal rats and rats in pain, but which returned to normal expression levels
post-acupuncture. Confirming earlier findings, the researchers found that
expression of an opioid receptor dropped in the rats with pain but returned to
normal levels after acupuncture treatment. In addition, 67 other genes were
found to follow such a pattern of disruption in pain and restoration to normal
with acupuncture treatment, suggesting a multi-factorial response to
acupuncture.2More complex questions have been running concurrently with the older model of research for the last 15 years or so, and today we have a staggering list of possible players in acupuncture's mechanism. A recent review cites bioactive molecules in cerebrospinal fluid, blood serum, organs, and the acupoints themselves.3 Meanwhile, the acupoints and meridians have been studied as anatomical structures distinct from the nervous system. They are now sometimes thought of as being primarily composed of connective tissue, with the winding of this connective tissue around needles creating mechanical stress which activates surrounding cells to mobilize or signal more widely.4 As an example of the level of complexity emerging from this type of research, a recent paper utilizing this model of mechanical stress and subsequent chemical signaling was entitled, "Acupuncture modulates the neuro-endocrine-immune network."5 In Part 2 of this article, I will explore some ways in which we could leverage our current knowledge and methods to ask complex questions in simple systems, a relatively unexplored possibility for acupuncture research, but one that holds a particular interest for me since I was trained to do research at the level of cells rather than on whole organisms.
The source of this article is from Acupuncture Today.
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