Considerations for Use of Acupuncture as Supplemen

Authors: YongQing Yang HanPing Chen Yu Wang LeiMiao Yin YuDong Xu Jun Ran

Publish Date: 2012/06/03

Volume: 44, Issue: 3, Pages: 254-261

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Abstract

This study examines the clinical and immunomodulatory effects of acupuncture in the treatment of patients with allergic asthma The acupuncture points GV14 BL12 and BL13 were selected based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine in treating asthma Manual acupuncture was performed once every other day three times per week for 5 weeks The needles were twisted approximately 360° evenly at the rate of 60 times/min for 20 s manipulated every 10 min and withdrawn after 30 min Concentrations of sIgA and total IgA in secretions were determined by the combination of sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and RIA Levels of cortisol in the plasma were measured by RIA Total IgE in the sera was examined by ELISA Flow cytometry was used to detect the numbers of CD3+ CD4+ CD8+ and IL2R + T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood The absolute and differential numbers of eosinophils in peripheral blood were counted with eosin staining The total efficacy of the acupuncture treatment in patients with allergic asthma at the end of one course of treatment was 85  After treatment the concentrations of sIgA and total IgA in the saliva P  001 P  002 and nasal secretions P  002 P  002 were significantly decreased in patients with allergic asthma The levels of total IgE in sera P  0001 the counts of IL2R + T lymphocytes P  0001 and the absolute and differential numbers of eosinophils P  001 P  001 in the peripheral blood were also significantly decreased The numbers of CD3+ CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were significantly increased in the allergic asthmatics treated by acupuncture P  0001 P  001 and P  0001 respectively The concentration of cortisol in the plasma of asthmatic patients did not change significantly after the acupuncture treatment P  005 Acupuncture has regulatory effects on mucosal and cellular immunity in patients with allergic asthma and may be an adjunctive therapy for allergic asthmaThis work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China nos 3910014 30873299 81173332 the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission 09ZZ128 and the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project S30304

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