title: Catecholamine-storing cells at acupuncture points of rabbits.
abstract: Recent studies have shown that specific sites of the skin related to the acupoints contain a high concentration of catecholamines, especially noradrenaline (NA). Considering this newly discovered property of the acupoints we assumed that heterogeneous distribution of cutaneous catecholamines could be associated with a specific location of catecholamine-storing cells in acupoint sites. In the present work we used an immunohistochemical method and confocal laser scanning microscopy to examine the presence of catecholamine-storing cells at acupoints of rabbits. Double immunofluorescence staining with antibodies against adrenaline and NA revealed only the cells storing NA in the dermal layer of rabbit skin. NA-storing cells were randomly scattered as single cells as well as existing in small clusters in a globular tissue formation surrounded by blood vessels and capillaries. Microscopic analysis of histological sections also revealed that the distribution of NA-storing cells was closely associated with the location of acupoints. Thus results from our study strongly suggest that acupoint areas of rabbit skin contain catecholamine-storing cells which can release a high level of NA during acupuncture stimulation.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Vyacheslav
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ogay
authors.forename: Min Su
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyo Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Seok
authors.forename: Cheon Joo
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kwang-Sup
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Soh
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D002477:Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D023421:Models, Animal; D011817:Rabbits; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002395:Catecholamines