Acupuncture regulates leukocyte subpopulations in human peripheral blood |
| |
| Authors: | Yamaguchi Nobuo Takahashi Takashi Sakuma Masahiro Sugita Toshiroh Uchikawa Kumiko Sakaihara Satoshi Kanda Tsugiyasu Arai Matsuo Kawakita Kenji |
| |
| Affiliation: | Department of Fundamental Research for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Department of General Medicine, Kanazawa Medical University, Ishikawa Natural Medicinal Products Research Center, Kanazawa, Ishikawa and Department of Physiology, Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. |
| |
| Abstract: | Acupuncture has recently been attracting more and more peoplethroughout the world as an alternative treatment, however littleis known about its physiological activities (i.e. immune system).We examined acupuncture both quantitatively and qualitativelyby measuring CD-positive cell counts and cytokine expressionlevels in the blood, to determine the activity of T cells, Bcells, macrophages and natural killer (NK) cells. Fifteen millilitersof peripheral blood obtained from 17 healthy volunteers aged21–51 years, were analyzed using flow cytometry beforeand after acupuncture treatment. There was a statistically significantincrease in the number of CD2+, CD4+, CD8+, CD11b+, CD16+, CD19+,CD56+ cells as well as IL-4, IL-1β and IFN- levels in thecells after acupuncture stimulation of meridian points. Theseobservations indicate that acupuncture may regulate the immunesystem and promote the activities of humoral and cellular immunityas well as NK cell activity. In this article, we discussed howacupuncture regulated leukocyte numbers and functions sincethey are considered to be potential indicators for evaluatingcomplementary and alternative medicine. |
| |
| Keywords: | acupuncture - CD positive cells - cytokine expression - Eastern medicine - leukocyte subset |
| 本文献已被 PubMed Oxford 等数据库收录！ |
|
