BioChem Paper

                       A Look At Acupuncture Through a BioChemical Standpoint

Acupuncture has had known effects on the body since as early as 6,000 BC and became a full and proven theory in China by 500 BC. Although it is still seen primarily in America as an “alternative medicine”, more and more studies are being done on the biological and chemical effects on the body. There have been over 18,000 accessible scientific studies done on the effects of acupuncture through a Western eye, that go into great depth about how acupuncture is working on a molecular, chemical, and electrical way. These studies are leading to new theories about how acupuncture needles are helping to heal individuals.

The first theory has to do with the effects acupuncture has on the hypothalamus and pituitary glands. The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that links the nervous system to the endocrine system. It is responsible for certain metabolic activities of the autonomic nervous system and secretes neurohormones that control body temperature, hunger, attachment behaviors, thirst, fatigue, and sleep. The pituitary gland rests right below the hypothalamus and regulates several physiological processes including stress, growth, reproduction, and lactation. It also creates nine hormones that regulate homeostasis. In modern day culture the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal axis can easily get out of balance causing many problems. This balance is vital to our everyday life, not just physically but also emotionally.

In 1997 the National Institute of Health conducted a study on these two glands in regards to acupuncture and said, “"Studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can cause multiple biological responses mediated mainly by sensory neurons to many structures within the central nervous system. This can lead to activation of pathways effecting various physiological systems in the brain as well as in the periphery... also evidence of alterations in immune function [by causing] alterations in secretions of neurotransmitters and neurohormones and changes in the regulation of blood flow, both centrally and peripherally."

Other studies have been done on higher brain areas that secrete a variety of chemicals that modulate pain, endorphins, and encephalins. Encephalins are pentapeptides that have opiate qualities. In 2009 a study found that “acupuncture increases the binding ability of MU-opioid receptors in regions of the brain that process and weaken pain signals.” These opioid receptors effect the pain levels for a longer time period than just a few hours or even days and can help with permanent pain relief. Pain is processed in the brain, so increasing these receptors can help with pain anywhere in the body.

Harvard Medical School, in conjunction with Massachusetts General Hospital, conducted a study viewing changes in blood flow and fluctuation in blood oxygen flow through viewing Functional MRIs (fMRI) during acupuncture. They found “clear changes in the imaging in several areas of the brain. The changes indicated a decrease in blood flow and a quieting down of the regions of the brain associated with pain, mood, and cravings." In an fMRI, areas of the brain light up when people have pain. These same areas are very sensitive to dopamine. According to Dr. Rosen, one of the men conducting this particular study, “the resulting dopamine activity triggers the release of endorphins” which are pain relief chemicals that provide comfort.

Another study reported in the British Medical Journal very similar concepts when looking directly at the effects of acupuncture on headaches.

Acupuncture has also been proven to calm the autonomic nervous system by stimulating norepinephrine and acetylcholine; also effecting the turnover rate of brain activity. When under stress or fearful emotions the body goes into a sympathetic state. In this “fight or flight” state, one cannot heal properly. Through certain relaxation techniques, the body can go back into the parasympathetic mode, where the body can take care of important homeostatic processes and heal naturally. Often times, it takes a long time to get to this state of relaxation, if at all, and it can take as little as 100^th of a second to get out of it and back into the stressful “fight or flight” response. 

 Acupuncture helps to aid the body into a parasympathetic state. In this time period, the body is no longer producing stress hormones, such as epinephrine and cortisol and can easily go into a mode of healing through relaxation, cellular repair, and even organ repair. 

Dr. Peng Lee, at UC Irvine found that many of the main acupuncture points are GABA agonists as well. The substance gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter, used by the human nervous system to send messages and modulate its own function. GABA acts in an inhibitory manner, tending to cause nerves to calm down. Some people are in such a high rate of stress that even having a 30 minute acupuncture session can give their body great relief and allows the body to heal.

We can also look at the effects needling has on the vascular interstitial fluid, which is also directly related to extracellular fluid movement. Acupuncture can effect the flow of these fluids between tissues, which encourages healing by the transfer of fluids between the blood, extracellular material, and urea. Scientists have measured the electrical communication between cells, and how it's effected by needling. Because we are made up of mostly empty space, most communication within our body is done through electrical stimulus. If electrical stimulus is blocked, there is pain. Acupoints have the least resistance to flow, and by applying needles to multiple acupoints in the body, electrons flow more easily. This measured electrical current may have been what the original doctors of acupuncture and the acupuncturists of today are feeling when they touch certain points and notice they are either soft (deficient) or harder (in excess). Some people use different types of needles to evoke certain electron flows. An example would be to put a gold needle in one point and a stainless steel needle in another. By doing this, the acupuncturist can control what way the current of electrons flow.

Acupuncture also effects the blood chemistry. Many studies have been done, including one at the Integrative Health Institute, testing levels of nitric acid around some of the main acupuncture channels. Biopsies of the channel were taken before and after acupuncture. The results showed that up to a 1/4 inch around the channel, nitric acid was dramatically increased after acupuncture. They state that “Nitric acid has been the most widely studied signaling molecule for more than a decade. It regulates blood pressure, contributes to the immune responses, controls neurotransmission and participates in cell differentiation and in many more physiological functions.” But acupuncture effects more than just nitric acid. Based on many other Western biochemistry studies, acupuncture has been shown to enhance the flow of many signaling molecules. John Nieters also mentions a study on adenosine, saying that adenosine levels increased as much as 2400 times around specific needled acupuncture points. Adenosine is not only known to block pain but also, plays an important role in biochemical processes, such as energy transfer such as ATP and ADP as well as in signal transductions. ATP levels at local points undergoing acupuncture can increase up to 400%, decreasing healing time significantly.

A study was done at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University in China on the role of connective tissue in the mechanical signal transduction of acupuncture. They stated “Non-specific connective tissue (fascia connective tissue) plays an important role in the mechanical signal transduction of acupuncture. Acupuncture needle manipulation-induced mechanical stress has a certain effect on the fibroblasts and cytoskeleton in the nonspecific connective tissue (including loose connective tissue and fat tissue) in morphology, histochemistry and biochemistry. For example, acupuncture-needle manipulation can make the fibroblast deformed, the cytoskeleton remodeled and result in the release of biochemical materials from the connective tissue. The present review summarizes new results of studies on the effect of acupuncture needle manipulation from cytobiology, imageology and physiology; and holds that making clear the transduction pathways of acupuncture mechanical stress signals in the connective tissue and its impact on the organism possesses an important significance in revealing the mechanism of acupuncture underlying clinical therapeutic effects. “

More and more studies are being done to test the effects of acupuncture through a biochemical view. It's no longer a question for the Westerner of whether it works, but rather, how it works.