title: Plasma immunoreactive beta-endorphin and enkephalin concentration in healthy subjects before and after electroacupuncture.
abstract: The involvement of the endogenous analgesia systems in the mechanism of analgesia produced by electrical stimulation of the brain or resulting from certain stressful manipulations seems now well-established. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether acupuncture as a method of peripheral sensory stimulation activates, like central stimulation, the endogenous opiate system. Plasma concentrations of ACTH and the best known endogenous opiates: beta-endorphin, met- and leu-enkephalin, were determined before and after standard electroacupuncture stimulation in healthy volunteers. Acupuncture stimulation resulted in a significant (p less than 0.005) decrease of plasma beta-endorphin-like immuno-reactivity (B-EPLI), but plasma ACTH assayed did not change about 5 minutes after acupuncture. The authors conclude that the reaction of the beta-endorphin system to acupuncture (sensory peripheral) stimulation in humans did not involve pituitary hypersecretion, and suggest that the increase of beta-endorphin binding to the tissue receptor sites seems to be responsible for the peripheral (plasma) B-EPLI decrease after acupuncture.
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000328:Adult; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D004723:Endorphins / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D004743:Enkephalin, Leucine / Q000097:blood*; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009270:Naloxone / Q000494:pharmacology; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D001615:beta-Endorphin
chemical_list: D004723:Endorphins; D009270:Naloxone; D004744:Enkephalin, Methionine; D004743:Enkephalin, Leucine; D001615:beta-Endorphin; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone