title: Non-specific physiological background effects of acupuncture revealed by proteomic analysis in normal rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The total effects of adequate real acupuncture treatment consist of pathologic-specific and non-specific physiological effects. The latter may be the fundamental component of the therapeutic effects of acupuncture. This study investigated the physiological background effects of acupuncture in normal rats treated with acupuncture.
  
  
  METHODS
  Manual acupuncture was performed on normal rats at experienced acupoints, GV14 (Dazhui), BL12 (Fengmen) and BL13 (Feishu), once every other day for two weeks. The proteomic profile of rat lung tissue was examined using 2-DE/MS-based proteomic techniques. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway were analyzed for differentially expressed proteins using the WebGestalt toolkit.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 25 differentially expressed protein spots were detected in the 2-DE gels. Among these spots, 24 corresponded to 20 unique proteins that were successfully identified using mass spectrometry. Subsequent GO and KEGG pathway analyses demonstrated that these altered proteins were mainly involved in biological processes, such as 'protein stabilization', 'glycolysis/gluconeogenesis' and 'response to stimulus'.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study indicated the non-specific background effects of acupuncture at acupoints GV14, BL12 and BL13 likely maintained internal homeostasis via regulation of the local stimulus response, energy metabolism, and biomolecule function balance, which may be important contributors to the therapeutic effects of acupuncture.
authors.forename: Yu-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Gyoung-Hee
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Lei-Miao
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ran
authors.forename: Yan-Yan
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China. yyq@shutcm.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yong-Qing
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000818:Animals; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000145:classification; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology*; D040901:Proteomics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D020543:Proteome