Regional and lateral specificity of acupuncture-induced action of blood-factor effects inhibiting hindlimb flexor reflexes in the rabbit

Abstract

Intravenous transfusion of blood plasma or serum from electroacupuncturally stimulated donor rabbits that displayed unilateral analgesia of a specific region of one hindlimb as shown by the lack of flexor withdrawal responses to pin pricks, caused the development of a comparable region of analgesia in naive, recipient rabbits. The site of this analgesia was comparable to that observed in the donor animals in terms of anatomical region and in terms of laterality. These findings indicate that acupunctural analgesia is induced through highly specific nervous and chemical mechanisms and that the substances produced can distinguish specific body regions located on one side of the body from the other.