title: Acupuncture and regulation of gastrointestinal function.
abstract: In China, acupuncture has been considered an effective method for treating gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction diseases for thousands of years. In fact, acupuncture has gained progressive acceptance from both practitioners and patients worldwide. However, the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms in treating GI dysfunction have not yet been established due to a lack of systematic and comprehensive review articles. Therefore, the aim of this review is to discuss the efficacy of acupuncture as a treatment for GI dysfunction and the associated underlying mechanisms. A search of PubMed was conducted for articles that were published over the past 10 years using the terms "acupuncture", "gastrointestine", and other relevant keywords. In the following review, we describe the effect and underlying mechanisms of acupuncture on GI function from the perspectives of GI motility, visceral sensitivity, the GI barrier, and the brain-gut axis. The dual regulatory effects of acupuncture may manifest by promoting gastric peristalsis in subjects with low initial gastric motility, and suppressing peristalsis in subjects with active initial motility. In addition, the regulation of acupuncture on gastric motility may be intensity-dependent. Our findings suggest that further studies are needed to investigate the effects and more systematic mechanisms in treating GI dysfunction, and to promote the application of acupuncture for the treatment of GI diseases.
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Tian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Bo-Feng
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Hui Li, Tian He, Qian Xu, Zhe Li, Cun-Zhi Liu, Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing 100010, China.
authors.forename: Cun-Zhi
authors.initials: CZ
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D017615:Enteric Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000294:innervation / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Acupuncture; Brain-gut axis; Gastrointestinal barrier; Gastrointestinal motility; Visceral sensitivity