title: The Effects of Acupuncture on Cerebral and Muscular Microcirculation: A Systematic Review of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Studies.
abstract: Acupuncture produces physiological effects via stimulating acupoints, proximal or distal to the region of effect. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) noninvasively measures tissue-level hemodynamics in real time. We review the literature investigating the effect of acupuncture on muscular and/or cerebral microcirculation. As the basis, we queried PubMed in June 2014 for articles mentioning both acupuncture and NIRS in title/abstract. The reviewed papers investigated either cerebral (n = 11) or muscular hemodynamics (n = 5) and, based on STRICTA for reporting acupuncture methodology, were overall poor in quality. Acupuncture was found to influence regional oxygen saturation in cerebral and muscular tissue. The cortical response in healthy subjects varied across studies. For subjects with stroke or cerebrovascular dementia, findings suggest that acupuncture may modulate dysfunction in cerebral autoregulation. The muscular response to pressure techniques was more intense than that to needling or laser. Probe proximity could impact measurement sensitivity. No one study simultaneously investigated the direct and remote responses. Research utilizing NIRS to investigate the hemodynamics of acupuncture presently lacks in scope and quality. Improved designs, for example, placebo-controlled, randomized trials, and standardized intervention reporting will raise study quality. Exploiting NIRS in clinical settings, such as stroke, migraine, or other pain conditions, is worthwhile.
authors.affiliation: College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91, Xueshi Road, North District, Taichung City 404, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming-Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Lo
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, 7 Chungshan South Road, Taipei 10002, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ming Wei
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91, Xueshi Road, North District, Taichung City 404, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Yu
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, 7 Chungshan South Road, Taipei 10002, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wei-Zen
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91, Xueshi Road, North District, Taichung City 404, Taiwan ; National Research Institute of Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Health and Welfare, 155-1 Section 2, Linong Street, Beitou District, Taipei 11221, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jaung-Geng
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lin