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Although, acupoint specificity is regarded as the core of scientific issues in electroacupuncture (EA), the difference of EA on treating functional dyspepsia (FD) at different acupoints is unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the different therapeutic effects of EA at lower extremity or abdominal acupoints on the mucosal integrity and lower-inflammatory response in FD. The intragastric administration of iodoacetamide (IA) was performed in 48 rats to establish the FD model. These rats were randomly divided into the control group, the model group and the six EA groups receiving stimulation at the lower extremity (ST36, ST37, and ST39) or abdominal acupoints (ST25, CV4, and CV12) separately. The open-field test (OFT) was measured after 8 weeks of IA, and gastric emptying was evaluated after 10 days of the EA treatment. The local inflammation markers of CD45, eosinophil major basic protein (EMBP), and the tight junction proteins ZO1 and Claudin3 were assessed by immunofluorescence in all groups. Western blot analysis showed that the EMBP and Occludin1 levels in the duodenal. EA at lower extremity acupoint ST36 could improve the gastric emptying. EA at lower extremity acupoints reduced the immunoreactivity of EMBP, but the CD45 was reregulated by the ST37 and ST39 acupoints. The lower extremity acupoints also ameliorated FD-tight junction protein in the expression of Claudin3 and ZO1. However, only the ST36 suppressed the expression of EMBP and recovered the expression of Occludin1. Similarly, the effect of EA at abdominal acupoints was not obvious either in facilitating gastric motility or in improving inflammatory and mucosal injury. EA at lower extremity and abdominal acupoints with the same stimulation parameters had different therapeutic effects in gastric emptying, intestinal mucosal integrity, and inflammation response, thus proving the specificity of acupoints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) is accompanied by a high incidence of mood disorder. Acupuncture is an effective method in relieving dyspepsia symptoms; however, the impact of psychological status on acupuncture for PDS remains mysterious. Methods. This secondary analysis of a multicenter, randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the influence of anxiety and depression on acupuncture for PDS. 138 patients received the same acupuncture treatment and were followed up until week 16. The 2 primary outcomes were the response rate based on overall treatment effect and the elimination rate of all 3 cardinal symptoms after 4 weeks of treatment. Results. Of 114 patients, 31 were anxiety patients and 83 were nonanxiety patients or 32 were depressive patients and 82 were nondepressive patients. The response rate and elimination rate at week 4 were 77.4% and 9.7% in anxiety patients versus 84.3% and 27.7% in nonanxiety patients, respectively (P = 0.388; P = 0.041). No significant difference was noted in the response rate (P = 0.552) and elimination rate (P = 0.254) at week 4 between nondepressive and depressive patients. There was no significant intergroup difference in the response rate and elimination rate between non-mood-disorder and mood disorder patients (P > 0.05) during the 12-week post-treatment follow-up, except for the response rate at week 8 (P < 0.05). Conclusion. The effect of acupuncture on response rate was similar for both non-mood-disorder and mood disorder patients. However, anxiety but not depression had a negative influence on the elimination rate, especially in postprandial fullness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Sympathetic activation leads to elevated blood pressure. Neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) inhibits sympathetic nervous system activity, thereby decreasing blood pressure (BP). nNOS is highly expressed in the arcuate nucleus (ARC) and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), which play essential roles in the regulation of the cardiovascular and sympathetic nervous systems. Objective. This study was designed to verify the hypothesis that acupuncture exerts an antihypertensive effect via increasing the expression of nNOS in ARC and vlPAG of spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) rats. Methods. Rats without anesthesia were subject to daily acupuncture for 2 weeks. BP was monitored by the tail-cuff method. nNOS expressions in the ARC and vlPAG were detected by western blot and immunofluorescence. BP was measured after 7-Nitroindazole (7-NI), a specific nNOS inhibitor, was microinjected into ARC or vlPAG in SHR rats treated with acupuncture. Results. Acupuncture for 14 days significantly attenuated BP, and the Taichong (LR3) acupoint was superior to Zusanli (ST36) and Fengchi (GB20) in lowering BP. In addition, acupuncture at Taichong (LR3) induced an increase of nNOS expression in ARC and vlPAG, whereas microinjection of 7-NI into ARC or vlPAG reversed the antihypertensive effect of acupuncture. Conclusions. This study indicates that acupuncture at Taichong (LR3) induces a better antihypertensive effect than at Zusanli (ST36) or at Fengchi (GB20) in SHR rats, and enhancement of nNOS in ARC and vlPAG probably contributes to the antihypertensive effect of acupuncture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To explore the feasibility of evaluating the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture versus sham electroacupuncture for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). Method. A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted at a teaching hospital in Beijing. A total of 30 patients with KOA (Kellgren grade II or III) were randomly allocated to an eight-week treatment of either electroacupuncture or sham electroacupuncture. Patients and outcome assessors were blinded to group allocation. The primary outcome was the proportion of responders achieving at least 1.14 seconds decrease in the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) at week eight compared with baseline. The secondary outcomes included the knee range of motion, the knee extensor and flexor muscle strength, Lequesne index, 9-step stair-climb test (9-SCT), and TUG. Results. Of 30 patients allocated to two groups, 27 (90%) completed the study. The proportion of responders was 53.3% (8 of 15) for electroacupuncture group and 26.7% (4 of 15) for sham electroacupuncture group by the intention-to-treat analysis (P = 0.264). There was no statistically significant difference in TUG between the two groups at eight weeks (P = 0.856). The compliance rate measured according to patients who conformed to the protocol and had received treatments ≥20 times was 93.3% (28 of 30). The dropout rate was 20% (3 of 15). Adverse effects were not reported in the study. Conclusion. Our research demonstrated that further evaluation of the effectiveness of electroacupuncture versus sham electroacupuncture was feasible and safe for patients with KOA. Whether or not the electroacupuncture can improve the physical functions of knee joint, expand the knee range of motion, and increase the extensor and flexor muscle strength more significantly than sham electroacupuncture, future studies can be designed with larger sample size, randomization design and less biases. This trial is registered with NCT03366363. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hypertension is a global health problem. It has been reported that acupuncture at Taichong acupoints (LR3) decreases high blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. A transcriptome analysis can profile gene expression and its relationship with acupuncture. In this study, rats were treated with 2 weeks of acupuncture followed by regular recording of blood pressure (BP). The mRNA changes in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) were evaluated to uncover the genetic mechanisms of acupuncture by using a whole transcript array (Affymetrix Rat Gene 1.0 ST array). BP measurements showed that acupuncture significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and heart rate (HR). In the bioinformatics results, 2371 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, where 83 DEGs were overlapped among Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKYs), spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs), and SHRs + acupuncture rats (SHRs+Acu). Gene ontology (GO) and pathway analysis revealed that 279 GO terms and 20 pathways with significant differences were related to oxidative stress, inflammation, and vascular endothelial function. In addition, coexpressed DEGs networks indicated that Cd4 and Il-33 might mediate the cascade of inflammation and oxidative stress responses, which could serve as a potential target of acupuncture treatment. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that acupuncture is a promising therapy for treating hypertension and could regulate multiple biological processes mainly involving oxidative stress, inflammation, and vascular endothelial function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]