Research advances in treatment of neurological and psychological diseases by acupuncture at the Acupuncture Meridian Science Research Center

Abstract

Acupuncture is an ancient therapeutic intervention that can be traced back at least 2100 years and is emerging worldwide as one of the most widely used therapies in the field of complementary and alternative medicine. Due to limitations associated with Western medicine's focus on the treatment of diseases rather than on their causes, interests are shifting to complementary and alternative medicines. The Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center (AMSRC) was established in 2005 to elucidate the neurophysiological mechanisms of acupuncture for neurological diseases based on multidisciplinary research supported by the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology. In the AMSRC, resultant research articles have shown that acupuncture can improve neurological and psychological problems, including Parkinson's disease, pain, and depression, in animal models. Basic research studies suggest its effectiveness in treating various problems such as depression, drug addiction, epilepsy, ischemia, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and pain. We strongly believe that these effects, evident from the AMSRC research results, can play leading roles in the use of acupuncture for treating neurological diseases, based on collaboration among various academic fields such as neurophysiology, molecular genetics, and traditional Korean medicine.

Keywords: Parkinson's disease; acupuncture therapy; depression; multidisciplinary research; neurological diseases.

Fig. 1

Effect of acupuncture on immobility time and expression of serotonin transporter of maternally-separated rat pups. (A) Immobility times of rat pups in the tail suspension test. (B) Expression of serotonin transporter (5-HTT) in the prefrontal cortex of rat pups. ^*p < 0.05. ^**p < 0.01 versus NOR group. ^##p < 0.01. ^###p < 0.001 versus MS group. HT7, acupoint Shenmen; MS, maternally separated control group; MS + HT7, maternally separated group with acupuncture stimulation at HT7 acupoint; MS + ST36, maternally separated group with acupuncture stimulation at ST36; NOR, normal group; ST36, acupoint Zusanil.

Fig. 2

Neuroprotective effects of EA at acupoint GB34 in MPTP-induced mice. (A) TH-specific immunohistochemical staining (upper two rows) in the SN. Scale bar, 200 μm. MPTP administration resulted in a considerable loss of Nissl-stained cells (bottom row) with a concomitant loss of TH-positive cells in the SN, while EA treatments increased the survival of Nissl-stained cells (bottom row) in the same areas. (B) The number of TH-positive neurons in the SN. MPTP destroys TH-positive neurons in the SN, whereas EA at GB34 prevents this destruction after MPTP injection. (C) Results of time spent in the pole tests. The time elapsed prior to mice arrived on the ground from the 50-cm-high pole was measured. Both MPTP + 2 Hz EA and MPTP + 100 Hz EA groups spent significantly shorter times on the pole, as compared to the MPTP group. Data are shown as means ± SEM. ^*p < 0.05 and ^**p < 0.01, compared with the MPTP group. EA, electroacupuncture; GB34, acupoint Yanglingquan; MPTP, 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine; SEM, standard error of the mean; SN, substantia nigra; TH, tyrosine hydroxylase.

Fig. 3

Improved pain management by a combination of clonidine and acupuncture. (A) Graph illustrating the number of Fos-positive neurons in the ipsilateral spinal cord dorsal horn (L3–L5) induced by injection of formalin in the control and each of the three treatment groups (n = 5 mice per groups). Mice were injected i.t. with saline or CLO (0.1 nmol) 5 minutes after s.c. injection of SAL or DBV into the Zusanli acupoint. (B) Representative photomicrographs of Fos protein immunostaining (black arrows) in spinal cord sections from each experimental and control group (n = 5 mice per group) (a, control; b, SAL + CLO, 0.1 nmol; c, DBV + SAL; d, DBV + CLO, 0.1 nmol). Scale bar = 200 μm. ^**p < 0.01 different from the number of Fos-labeled neurons in the control [SAL (s.c.) + SAL (i.t.)] group. ^##p < 0.01, significantly different from DBV (s.c.) + SAL (i.t.) group value. CLO, clonidine; DBV, diluted bee venom; i.t., intrathecally; NECK, neck of dorsal horn (laminae V–VI); NP, nucleus proprius (laminae III–IV); SAL, saline; s.c., subcutaneous; SDH, superficial dorsal horn (laminae I–II).