title: Dual effects of acupuncture on gastric motility in conscious rats.
abstract: The effects of manual acupuncture on gastric motility were investigated in 35 conscious rats implanted with a strain gauge transducer. Twenty (57.1%) rats showed no cyclic groupings of strong contractions (type A), whereas 15 (42.9%) rats showed the phase III-like contractions of the migrating motor complex (type B) in the fasting gastric motility. Acupuncture at the stomach (ST)-36 (Zusanli), but not on the back [Weishu, bladder (BL)-21], increased the peak amplitude of contractions to 172.4 +/- 25.6% of basal in the type A rats (n = 20, P < 0.05). On the other hand, the motility index for 60 min after the acupuncture was not affected by the acupuncture in this group. On the contrary, acupuncture decreased the peak amplitude and motility index to 72.9 +/- 14.0% and 73.6 +/- 16.2% in the type B rats (n = 15, P < 0.05), respectively. The stimulatory and inhibitory effects of acupuncture observed in each type were reproducible on the separate days. In 70% of type A rats, acupuncture induced strong phase III-like contractions lasting for over 3 h that were abolished by atropine, hexamethonium, atropine methyl bromide, and vagotomy. Naloxone significantly shortened the duration of the stimulatory effects from 3.52 +/- 0.21 to 1.02 +/- 0.15 h (n = 3, P < 0.05). These results suggest that acupuncture at ST-36 induces dual effects, either stimulatory or inhibitory, on gastric motility. The stimulatory effects are mediated in part via vagal efferent and opioid pathways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Duke University and Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27705, USA.
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatewaki
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uemura
authors.forename: Tomio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Etsuo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hoshino
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shiotani
authors.forename: Theodore N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: Toku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture; D000818:Animals; D001285:Atropine / Q000494:pharmacology; D003243:Consciousness; D005730:Ganglionic Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018738:Hexamethonium / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D023421:Models, Animal; D016065:Myoelectric Complex, Migrating / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D018847:Opioid Peptides / Q000378:metabolism; D010276:Parasympatholytics / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology; D014628:Vagotomy; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D005730:Ganglionic Blockers; D018847:Opioid Peptides; D010276:Parasympatholytics; D018738:Hexamethonium; D001285:Atropine