title: Acupuncture inhibits sympathetic activation during mental stress in advanced heart failure patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In heart failure (HF) patients, muscle sympathetic nerve activity is increased, and HF patients with the greatest sympathetic activation have the poorest prognosis. In animals, acupuncture is sympathoinhibitory, and the most profound sympathoinhibition occurs in animals with the highest resting sympathetic nerve activity. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that acupuncture is sympathoinhibitory in humans with HF.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifteen advanced HF patients underwent acute mental stress testing before and during (1) "real" acupuncture (n = 10), (2) non-acupoint acupuncture (n = 10), and (3) no-needle acupuncture control (n = 10). Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) was recorded using peroneal microneurography. Resting MSNA was not different before and after acupuncture (52 +/- 22 versus 50 +/- 21 bursts/min, P = NS). During mental stress, SNA increased significantly. This increase was eliminated following real acupuncture (mean delta MSNA pre-acupuncture versus post-acupuncture: 149 +/- 171 versus -169 +/- 130, P =.03), but not after non-acupoint or no-needle acupuncture controls. The changes in blood pressure and heart rate during mental stress were not attenuated by real or control acupuncture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acute acupuncture attenuates sympathoexcitation during mental stress in advanced HF patients.
authors.affiliation: University of California--Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Medicine (Cardiology), 90095, USA.
authors.forename: Holly R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Middlekauff
authors.forename: Kakit
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: Jun Liang
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Michele A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: Gregg C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Fonarow
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moriguchi
authors.forename: W Robb
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Maclellan
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hage
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000328:Adult; D017776:Autonomic Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000628:therapy*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome