Corporation The annual UNITED STATES Symposium on Acupuncture may be the primary scientific area of the educational system in Traditional Chinese language Medication (TCM) established from the Academy of Discomfort Study in 1979. medical approach. Both contemporary basic and clinical sciences and TCM teachings should be U0126-EtOH integrated in order to improve the efficacy of acupuncture in modern medical practice. With this central purpose in mind every year Dr Lee invites the leading experts in basic and clinical acupuncture research most of whom hold professorships at prominent medical schools or are affiliated with excellent academic institutions. Scientific Reports Basic Research on Acupuncture J.C. Longhurst and Peng Li (Department of Medicine University of California Irvine) reported on their studies of acupuncture on the regulation of the cardiovascular system. Dr Longhurst provided an update on his research into the mechanisms of acupuncture regulation of the cardiovascular system. His results demonstrate that electroacupuncture (EA) can reduce myocardial ischemia in an animal model of demand-induced ischemia mainly through reducing the demand of U0126-EtOH the myocardium for oxygen rather than by enhancing blood flow. He has also found that both unmyelinated (or group IV) sensory fibers and finely myelinated (or group III) fibers are responsible for the EA-cardiovascular effects. Dr Li reported on the effects of acupuncture on exercise-induced cardiovascular responses in hypertensive patients. They found that arterial blood pressure responses to exercise were reduced in 70.6% of their subjects following EA of U0126-EtOH either PC 5-6 or LI 4-L7 acupuncture points. EA administered 1-2 times per week for 2 weeks resulted in a decrease in systolic blood pressure of ～20?mmHg in patients with hypertension. Sheng-Xing Ma (Harbor-UCLA Medical Center David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California Los Angeles) reported that L-arginine-derived nitric oxide (NO) in the gracile nucleus mediates cardiovascular and antinociceptive responses to EA stimulation of the ST 36 acupuncture point in rats. Results showed that EA of point ST 36 produced analgesia and decreased arterial blood pressure in rats. The analgesic and cardiovascular responses to EA were facilitated by L-arginine NO and blocked by inhibitors of NO synthesis in the gracile nucleus (2 3 Dr Ma found that EA stimulation Rabbit polyclonal to ZNF165. of point ST 36 induced expression of neuronal NO synthase in the gracile nucleus and cFos expression in the gracile nucleus-thalamic nuclei-cortex pathways. Further the excitabilities of U0126-EtOH EA-sensitive thalamic units identified in the ventroposterolateral and paraventricular thalamic nuclei were modified by microinjections of L-arginine an NO donor and a selective inhibitor of neuronal NO synthesis into U0126-EtOH the gracile nucleus. These results represent a novel discovery of how stimulation by acupuncture may induce the important endogenous substance NO in the gracile nucleus which plays an important role in pain homeostasis and nociceptive/cardiovascular regulation. This is the first discovery of an endogenous NOergic substance contributing to signal transduction of acupuncture information through dorsal medulla-thalamic pathways since the previous discovery of opioid peptide-mediated EA effects (3). Presentation of Clinical Trials on the Efficacy of Acupuncture and Related Techniques Joseph Audette (Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Harvard Medical School) discussed specific methodological problems in clinical research concerning the effectiveness of acupuncture. He reported promising results from rigorous randomized controlled studies (4) on the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of myofascial pain and headache. Taras Usichenko (Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine Department University of Greifswald Germany) reported on pain and joint stiffness reduction in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with low-intensity electromagnetic millimeter waves (MW) applied to acupuncture points (5). Dr Usichenko also presented the model of the ‘electromagnetic frame’ of the human body based on the principles of quantum physics and the info from embryological physiological and medical research that allows us to interpret the type of acupuncture meridians and therefore to describe the system of MW actions (6). Ragnhild Kinge (Division of Obstetrics Oslo College or university Medical center Norway) reported the outcomes from the randomized non-blinded managed research where acupuncture decreased the necessity for meperidine.