title: Central neuromechanisms underlying control of intragastric pressure through acupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) in rats: the upper cervical cord is the key link between the ascending and descending pathways.
abstract: Sensory inputs stimulated by Zusanli (ST36) acupuncture in the abdomen are known to converge in the upper cervical cord. However, it is unclear whether these inputs are subsequently conveyed to the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus and what kind of afferent fibers are involved. We focused on the upper cervical cord, where afferent inputs converge, and detected c-fos expression in oxytocinergic neurons. We found that Zusanli acupuncture therapy effectively elevated intragastric pressure, but inhibited expression of c-fos in oxytocinergic neurons of the paraventricular nucleus in upper cervical cord injured rats. These Zusanli acupuncture effects remained even after complete dorsal cord transection. However, after complete transection of the spinal cord or dorsolateral funiculus, the effects were significantly attenuated and even disappeared. These findings suggest that the paraventricular nucleus is responsible for pooling and integrating signals from the Zusanli acupuncture and sensory information from the intragastric pressure variation, thereby contributing to the regulation of intragastric pressure. The upper cervical cord serves as the key link between ascending and descending pathways, which conveys afferent inputs to the paraventricular nucleus through the dorsolateral funiculus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Medicine, Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Chun-Yan
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yong
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jiang-Shan
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5482-306X
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: Zusanli (ST36); acupuncture; dorsal cord; dorsolateral funiculus; hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus; immunohistochemical double staining; intragastric pressure; nerve regeneration; nervous pathway; neural regeneration; traditional Chinese medicine; upper cervical cord