Beneficial Effects of Acupuncture Treatment Following Experimental Spinal Cord Injury: A Behavioral, Morphological, and Biochemical Study (original) (raw)
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Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research, 2016
In the present study, the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) on the oxidative stress, the spinal cord tissue preservation and the recovery of motor function was evaluated after a traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI). Long Evans rats were randomized into five groups: 1. Sham; 2. TSCI without treatment; 3. TSCI + EA (acupoint GV.4); 4. TSCI + EA (acupoint GV.26) and 5. TSCI + EA (GV.4 + GV.26). The EA was performed with an Electro-Acupunctoscope, AWQ-104L Digital, wave dense-dispersed, current intensity 2.5mA and frequency 2-100Hz for 30 minutes. The biochemical results showed a significant increase in the hydroxyl radical concentration in group 2 (3.1±1.4nmol) compared with groups 1 (1.8±0.5nmol) and 4 (2.4±1.1nmol) (p<0.05), whereas in group 4 (4.8±1.8nmol), there was a significant increase in lipid peroxidation when compared with group 1 (1.7±0.5nmol) (p<0.05). The BBB motor function score in the paralyzed hind limbs (normal BBB=21points) was greater in groups 3 (15.2 points) ...
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011
Each year, there are an estimated 12 000 individuals who sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States. Improved understanding of the pathophysiology of SCI and its sequelae has over the past 50 years led to the development of medical treatments (especially urologic) that have enhanced short- and long-term survival from these injuries. The prevalence of individuals with SCI in this country is ~250 000 individuals; and beyond the incalculable personal consequences of these devastating neurologic injuries, substantial direct and indirect societal costs result from the sequelae of SCI including paralysis, sensory loss, chronic pain, decubiti and bladder and/or bowel incontinence. The purpose of this treatise is to review the allopathic and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) literature available through MEDLINE, PubMed and eCAM search engines that discuss the potential uses of acupuncture to treat acute and chronic spinal cord injuries and their sequelae, and present the neuro...
Role of Acupuncture in the Management of Severe Acquired Brain Injuries (sABIs)
Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2018
Acupuncture therapy has been used to treat several disorders in Asian countries and its use is increasing in Western countries as well. Current literature assessed the safety and efficacy of acupuncture in the acute management and rehabilitation of patients with neurologic disorders. In this paper, the role of acupuncture in the treatment of acute severe acquired brain injuries is described, acting on neuroinflammation, intracranial oedema, oxidative stress, and neuronal regeneration. Moreover, beneficial effects of acupuncture on subacute phase and chronic outcomes have been reported in controlling the imbalance of IGF-1 hormone and in decreasing spasticity, pain, and the incidence of neurovegetative crisis. Moreover, acupuncture may have a positive action on the arousal recovery. Further work is needed to understand the effects of specific acupoints on the brain. Allegedly concurrent neurophysiological measurements (e.g., EEG) may help in studying acupuncture-related changes in ce...
Electro-acupuncture on functional peripheral nerve regeneration in mice: a behavioural study
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012, 12:141 , 2012
Background: The improvement of axonal regeneration is a major objective in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of electro-acupuncture on the functional recovery of sensorimotor responses following left sciatic nerve crush in mice. Methods: Sciatic nerve crush was performed on seven week old female mice. Following the injury, the control group was untreated while the experimental group received an electro-acupuncture application to the injured limb under isoflurane anesthesia at acupoints GB 30 and GB 34. Mechanical and heat sensitivity tests were performed to evaluate sensory recovery. Gait analysis was performed to assess sensorimotor recovery. Results: Our results show that normal sensory recovery is achieved within five to six weeks with a two-week period of pain preceding the recovery to normal sensitivity levels. While electro-acupuncture did not accelerate sensory recovery, it did alleviate pain-related behaviour but only when applied during this period. Application before the development of painful symptoms did not prevent their occurrence. The analysis of gait in relation to the sensory tests suggests that the electro-acupuncture specifically improved motor recovery. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that electro-acupuncture exerts a positive influence on motor recovery and is efficient in the treatment of pain symptoms that develop during target re-innervation. Keywords: Sciatic nerve, Crush, Nerve injury, Pain, Sensorimotor
Antiallodynic Effects of Acupuncture in Neuropathic Rats
Yonsei Medical Journal, 2006
Peripheral nerve injury often results in abnormal neuropathic pain such as allodynia or hyperalgesia. Acupuncture, a traditional Oriental medicine, has been used to relieve pain and related symptoms. However, the efficiency of acupuncture in relieving neuropathic pain is not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-allodynic effects of acupuncture through behavioral and electrophysiological examinations. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to neuropathic surgery consisting of a tight ligation and transection of the left tibial and sural nerves, under pentobarbital anesthesia. The acupuncture experiment consisted of four different groups, one treated at each of three different acupoints (Zusanli (ST36), Yinlingquan (SP9), and a sham-acupoint) and a control group. Behavioral tests for mechanical allodynia and cold allodynia were performed for up to two weeks postoperatively. Extracellular electrophysiological recordings were made from the dorsal roots using platinum wire electrodes. Mechanical and cold allodynia were significantly reduced after acupuncture treatment at the Zusanli and Yinlingquan acupoints, respectively. Electrophysiological neural responses to von Frey and acetone tests were also reduced after acupuncture at the same two acupoints. These results suggest that acupuncture may be beneficial in relieving neuropathic pain.
The effects of electroacupuncture on rat sciatic nerve recovery
Manual Therapy, Posturology & Rehabilitation Journal, 2014
Introduction: Acupuncture is an ancient form of treatment used initially in China and is currently common practice in the West among health professionals in various clinical conditions according to the World Health Organization, causing local or remote biological responses. Objetive: This experiment aims to evaluate the influence of electroacupuncture on recovery of peripheral nerve through functional gait analysis and nociception after crush injury in the sciatic nerve in rats. Methods: Were included 30 Wistar rats, weight of 198g divided into three groups. Functional analysis was performed by the method of Functional Index Sciatic (FIS) by shooting the rear footprints performed on a mat with controlled rate in the days: preoperative; 7th day post-operation; 14 post-operation day and 21th day post-operation. In the same period the animals were evaluated for nociception using von Frey filaments. Results: From the results it was found that there was an improvement of the FIS in both ...
Objective The study sought to explore the possibility of using acupuncture and massage therapy for relieving neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury (SCI). Design 30 individuals with SCI and neuropathic pain were assigned to treatment of either massage or acupuncture, with 15 individuals in each group. Both groups received treatment twice weekly for 6 weeks. Treatments were evaluated at the end of treatment and 2 months later (follow-up).
Acupuncture’s neuroanatomic and neurophysiologic basis
Longhua Chinese Medicine, 2021
Ever since acupuncture's tenets were first delineated in the Huangdi Neijing (Neijing) treatise ~200 BCE, theorists and researchers have sought to define the anatomic and physiologic bases for acupuncture's beneficial clinical effects in treating pain and non-pain medical conditions. In the last century, technical advances in both the basic biomedical sciences (including anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacology, electrophysiology, and radiology) and also clinical research methodologies have led to publication of an extensive body of basic science and clinical research publications on the topics of acupuncture anatomy, physiology, and clinical effects. This body of literature demonstrates that the beneficial clinical effects of acupuncture derive from the activation of peripheral nerves by needling, with resulting secondary modulatory effects on the peripheral nervous system, the central nervous system (CNS) (including the limbic system), the autonomic nervous system, and the immunologic and endocrinologic systems. A neuroanatomic and neurophysiologic model of acupuncture's mechanisms and effects is the only theory that can be reconciled with research findings of the efficacy of laser acupuncture and the positive randomized clinical trial results in studies that used non-penetrating or minimally penetrating "sham" needle control interventions, and this model is also consistent with anatomic and physiologic descriptions contained in the Neijing. This review article summarizes the anatomic, basic science, and clinical evidence that demonstrates acupuncture signaling and its myriad clinical benefits can be understood as arising from and transduced by neural mechanisms.
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2013
To evaluate the evidence supporting the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for SCI and its complications, we conducted search across 19 electronic databases to find all of the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that used acupuncture as a treatment for SCI and its complications. The methodological quality of each RCT was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the PEDro scale. Sixteen RCTs, including 2 high-quality RCTs, met our inclusion criteria (8 for functional recovery from SCI, 6 for bladder dysfunction, and 2 for pain control). The meta-analysis showed positive results for the use of acupuncture combined with conventional treatments for the functional recovery in terms of motor ASIA scores and total FIM scores when compared to conventional treatments alone. Positive results were also obtained for the treatment of bladder dysfunction, in terms of the total efficacy rate, when comparing acupuncture to conventional treatments. However, 2 RCTs for pain control repor...