Based on former work, the current authors hypothesized that acupuncture might regulate visceral organs' function through effects on the central nervous system and its control of the autonomic nervous system that could protect the brain injury caused by myocardial ischemia.
Objective:
The aim of the current research was to establish a mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in protecting the brain and the heart after myocardial injury.
Materials and Methods:
Design, Setting and Model: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, and a model group treated with EA to HT 7, HT 3, LU 9, and LU 5, with 30 rats in each group. This study was conducted in a university setting. The models were rats who had undergone thoracotomy and ligation of their distal left anterior descending coronary arteries. Intervention: Treatment rats received 1 mA and 10 Hz EA daily for 7 days with 15-minute needle retention. Main Outcome Measure: Cardiac troponin T (cTnt) levels in the rats' sera and myocardia, and dopamine (DA) levels in the hypothalami were measured in each group and compared with values obtained for each groups.
Results:
Levels of cTnt in the rats' serum and myocardia increased, and DA in their hypothalami decreased in the model group more than in the normal control group. EA was able to reduce cTnt and increase DA. EA to HT could affect such biomarkers more significantly than EA to LU. EA to HT 7 produced significantly lower cTnt levels, while DA levels in the rats' hypothalami were not significantly different than those treated at HT 3. EA to LU 5 produced no significant differences compared to LU 9.
Conclusions:
EA to the Heart and Lung meridians appears to limit myocardial injury caused by ischemia. Differences among EA to different points suggest point specificity within the meridian. In the clinical setting, EA at points on the Heart meridian has effects on both the Heart and the Brain. The Lung meridian penetrates the Heart; this explains why stimulation of Lung points also has effects on the Heart.
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