[Review on the mechanism of joint application of acupuncture therapy and medication in clinical practice].
Acupuncture therapy combined with medication has been widely used in clinic practice in China and proved to be effective in the, treatment of many disorders. The authors of the present paper review researches on the underlying mechanism of joint application of acupuncture therapy and medication in recent decade from (1) neural regulation, (2) endocrine regulation, and (3) immunological regulation. After comprehensive analysis, the authors think that the mechanism underlying the enhanced clinical efficacy of acupuncture therapy combined with drugs may be closely associated with the following factors: (1) acupuncture stimulation of acupoints leads to changes of the drug concentration in the blood and/or in the target organ and, (2) the reactivity or sensitivity of the target organ tissues to the specifically effective drug elements is enhanced.
Lu
Bo
B
The Medical Experimental Research Center, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China. goldlubo@hotmail.com
Wang
Yu-min
YM
Gao
Jun-hong
JH
Fu
Wei-xing
WX
Cui
Hai-feng
HF
Cui
Jing-jing
JJ
Wang
Hong-xin
HX
Yu
Xiao-chun
XC
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004358:Drug Therapy; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans
D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal