Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012:2012:513638.
doi: 10.1155/2012/513638. Epub 2012 Jun 21.

Evaluation of the effects of acupuncture on blood flow in humans with ultrasound color Doppler imaging

Shin Takayama  1 , Masashi Watanabe, Hiroko Kusuyama, Satoru Nagase, Takashi Seki, Toru Nakazawa, Nobuo Yaegashi
Affiliations

Evaluation of the effects of acupuncture on blood flow in humans with ultrasound color Doppler imaging

Shin Takayama et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012.

Abstract

Color Doppler imaging (CDI) can be used to noninvasively create images of human blood vessels and quantitatively evaluate blood flow in real-time. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of acupuncture on the blood flow of the peripheral, mesenteric, and retrobulbar arteries by CDI. Statistical significance was defined as P values less than 0.05. Blood flow in the radial and brachial arteries was significantly lower during needle stimulation on LR3 than before in healthy volunteers, but was significantly higher after needle stimulation than before. LR3 stimulation also resulted in a significant decrease in the vascular resistance of the short posterior ciliary artery and no significant change of blood flow through the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) during acupuncture. In contrast, ST36 stimulation resulted in a significant increase in blood flow through the SMA and no significant change in the vascular resistance of the retrobulbar arteries. Additionally, acupuncture at previously determined acupoints in patients with open-angle glaucoma led to a significant reduction in the vascular resistance of the central retinal artery and short posterior ciliary artery. Our results suggest that acupuncture can affect blood flow of the peripheral, mesenteric, and retrobulbar arteries, and CDI can be useful to evaluate hemodynamic changes by acupuncture.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) Ultrasound measurement of the radial artery. 13 MHz linear transducer is fixed along radial artery with a special probe holder (MP-PH0001, Aloka Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). (b) Display of CDI. Left: the vessel image and the position of the artery tracking gate. Right: changes in vessel diameter, Doppler flow, and flow velocity as determined by an automated edge-detection device and computer analysis software (e-Tracking system; Aloka Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Ultrasound measurement of the brachial artery. 13 MHz linear transducer is fixed along brachial artery with a special probe holder (MP-PH0001, Aloka Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). (b) Display of CDI. Left: image of the vessel image and position of the artery tracking gate. Right: changes in vessel diameter, Doppler flow, and flow velocity, as determined by an automated edge detection device and computer analysis software (e-Tracking system; Aloka Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Ultrasound measurement of the SMA. 5 MHz convex transducer is positioned on the abdomen. (b) Display of CDI. Left: image of the vessel and the position of the artery tracking. Right: Doppler flow and flow velocity.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Schema of the retrobulbar arteries (OA: ophthalmic artery, CRA: central retinal artery, and SPCA: short posterior ciliary artery).
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Ultrasound measurement of retrobulbar arteries. 13 MHz linier transducer is attached on the eyelid. Horizontal scans by CDI through the ocular globe showing the (b) ophthalmic artery (OA), (c) central retinal artery (CRA), and (d) temporal short posterior ciliary artery (SPCA). Left: image of the vessel and the position of the artery tracking. Right: Doppler flow and flow velocity (b, c, and d).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Percent changes in blood flow volume in the radial and brachial arteries before, during, and after acupuncture treatment. Values are presented as a percentage of the pretreatment blood flow. Values represent the mean and SD. AP: acupuncture. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 versus before acupuncture. Modified from [1].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Takayama S, Seki T, Watanabe M, et al. Brief effect of acupuncture on the peripheral arterial system of the upper limb and systemic hemodynamics in humans. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2010;16(7):707–713. - PubMed
    1. Takayama S, Seki T, Nakazawa T, et al. Short-term effects of acupuncture on open-angle glaucoma in retrobulbar circulation: additional therapy to standard medication. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:6 pages. Article ID 157090. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Takayama S, Seki T, Watanabe M, et al. Changes of blood flow volume in the superior mesenteric artery and brachial artery with abdominal thermal stimulation. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2011;2011:10 pages. Article ID 214089. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Takayama S, Seki T, Sugita N, et al. Radial artery hemodynamic changes related to acupuncture. Explore. 2010;6(2):100–105. - PubMed
    1. Takayama S, Seki T, Watanabe M, et al. The effect of warming of the abdomen and of herbal medicine on superior mesenteric artery blood flow—a pilot study. Forschende Komplementarmedizin. 2010;17(4):195–201. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources