title: Acupuncture: Emerging evidence for its use as an analgesic (Review).
abstract: Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese technique, developed over >3,000 years, in which 'acupoints' are stimulated with the aim of treating various diseases. A number of previous studies have indicated that acupuncture may play a role in inducing analgesia. Acupuncture-induced analgesia has been hypothesized to act on various parts of the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, brain stem, cerebral ganglia and cerebral cortex. The mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture have been purported to include neurohumors and neurotransmitters, such as opioids and γ-aminobutyric acid, signaling pathways and the immune response, which are all involved in the induction of analgesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China.
authors.forename: X I
authors.initials: XI
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tairan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116011, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wen
keywords: acupuncture; analgesia; nervous system