Acupuncture may help inflammation and sepsis, the life-threatening conditions found in COVID-19 patients

In a recent study, Dr. Quifu Ma, a professor of neurobiology, and his team at Harvard Medical School discovered that modern acupuncture could be used to reduce inflammation and sepsis in mice.

Studies published in peer-reviewed journals Neuron Electroacupuncture, a modern form of acupuncture, has been suggested to be effective as a preventative treatment for inflammation. Administration after the onset of the cytokine storm can have negative consequences. The location of treatment is also important for positive effects.

Acupuncture was originally part of traditional Chinese medicine. In this process, a small needle is inserted into a specific location called the acupuncture point or acupuncture point to balance the chi or energy flow and promote healing. It is also used in Western medicine to manage pain and gastrointestinal disorders.

Sepsis and inflammation may have received much public attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they are also associated with many other infectious diseases and illnesses.

Inflammation is the reaction of our body to an injury. However, uncontrolled inflammation can damage healthy cells. Cytokines are proteins that mediate inflammation. A cytokine storm occurs when our body releases too many cytokines. Extensive inflammation leads to an organ damage and life-threatening condition called sepsis. Each year, about 30 million people worldwide die from sepsis.

Nerve signal

Acupuncture points are thought to be located in specific areas of the body that are connected via nerves to specific body organs. Pressing on one area stimulates and heals connected areas or organs. But so far, experts do not know exactly how this neural activity works.

Previous research published in the journal Natural medicine Acupuncture has been shown to stimulate the vagal adrenal axis to reduce inflammation in mice. The vagus nerve is one of the longest nerves in the body. It oversees many physical functions. The vagal adrenal axis is a signal transduction pathway by which the vagus nerve stimulates the release of dopamine from the adrenal gland. The adrenal glands are the two small triangular glands above the kidneys. They produce various hormones including cortisol, dopamine and the fighting or flight hormones aldosterone and non-aldosterone.

A 2016 study pointed out the benefits of vagal stimulation to reduce inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is an autoimmune disease in which the human immune system begins to attack the joints, causing joint inflammation (joint pain and swelling).

It was both of these studies that stimulated Ma’s curiosity and conducted my own research.

Latest research

In the latest study, Dr. Ma and his team are investigating the effects of electroacupuncture on mice. This process uses thin electrodes that are inserted into the skin and connective tissue. Unlike traditional acupuncture, electroacupuncture provides better control over the strength of nerve stimulation.

The team targeted two adrenal chromaffin cells, which produce adrenaline, noradrenaline and dopamine, and noradrenergic neurons, which release noradrenaline. Noradrenergic neurons are located in the peripheral nervous system (the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord) and are connected to the spleen via nerve fibers. They used special genetic tools to create mice with and without chromaffin cells and noradrenergic neurons, and examined whether they played a role in inflammation.

Mice were given a bacterial toxin to induce a cytokine storm. The survey results are as follows.

• When electroacupuncture was given to the hind limbs, it activated the vagal adrenal axis, resulting in the release of dopamine from chromaffin cells. Mice that received this treatment showed relatively lower levels of inflammatory cytokines than mice that did not. This was evident in 60% of the surviving mice compared to 20% in the control group.
• When acupuncture was performed on the abdomen of septic mice along with acupoints on the hind limbs, activation of noradrenergic neurons and release of noradrenaline occurred.
• Mice were better off when electroacupuncture was performed before the cytokine storm. However, treatment resulted in increased inflammation and higher mortality when given at the peak of the cytokine storm.

so news release Dr. Ma, from the Harvard Medical School, proposed using electroacupuncture one day as a multipurpose treatment for inflammation and sepsis in the intensive care unit, once this treatment proved to work in future studies. did.

For more information, read our article Cytokine storm: symptoms, causes, diagnosis and treatment..

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