title: Acupuncture beyond the endorphin concept?
abstract: Traditional acupuncture has been used for treating a variety of health conditions. In contrast, Western physicians limited acupuncture to the alleviation of pain. Concomitant with a recent view that not all kinds of pain are within the reach of acupuncture-induced relief, it has been suggested that some conditions other than pain can be effectively treated by this method. Increased release of the neuropeptide beta-endorphin was proposed to explain the antinociceptive function of acupuncture. Even if correct beta-endorphin cannot account for the effect of acupuncture in other conditions. Endorphins might be interacting with cytokines, some of which (e.g. interleukin-10) downregulate the inflammatory component of disorders in which acupuncture may be useful. We present a speculative notion of the view that acupuncture may amplify the interaction between neuropeptides and cytokines. A non-invasive approach, such as immune-committed cells harvested from blood of acupuncture-treated patients, could be used to examine this hypothesis. Inclusion of a placebo group might support the credibility of acupuncture.
authors.affiliation: Pharmacology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. bonta@internet-zahav.net
authors.forename: Ivan L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Bonta
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D004723:Endorphins / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009479:Neuropeptides / Q000378:metabolism; D059408:Pain Management; D015990:Placebo Effect
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D004723:Endorphins; D009479:Neuropeptides