title: Molecular changes in remote tissues induced by electro-acupuncture stimulation at acupoint ST36.
abstract: To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on regions remote from the application, we measured cellular, enzymatic, and transcriptional activities in various internal tissues of healthy rats. The EA was applied to the well-identified acupoint ST36 of the leg. After application, we measured the activity of natural killer cells in the spleen, gene expression in the hypothalamus, and the activities of antioxidative enzymes in the hypothalamus, liver and red blood cells. The EA treatment increased natural killer cell activity in the spleen by approximately 44%. It also induced genes related to pain, including 5-Hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 3a (Htr3a) and Endothelin receptor type B (Ednrb) in the hypothalamus, and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase in the hypothalamus, liver, and red blood cells. These findings indicate that EA mediates its effects through changes in cellular activity, gene expression, and enzymatic activity in multiple remote tissues. The sum of these alterations may explain the beneficial effects of EA.
authors.affiliation: College of Oriental Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Sam-Woong
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Rho
authors.forename: Gi-Soon
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Eun-Jung
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Sun-Kwang
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Seop
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hye-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Moo-Chang
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Min-Kyu
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Byung-Il
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: Hyun-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.forename: Cheol-Koo
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyun-Su
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Bae
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000201:enzymology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000166:cytology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D009928:Organ Specificity; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase