• BMB Reports
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.420-427
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• 2002

Partial nerve injury is the main cause of neuropathic pain disorders in humans. Acupuncture has long been used to relieve pain. It is known to relieve pain by controlling the activities of the autonomic nervous system. Although the mechanism of neuropathic pain and analgesic effects of electroacupuncture (EA) have been studied in a rat model system, its detailed mechanism at the molecular level remains unclear. To identify genes that might serve as either markers or explain these distinct biological functions, a cDNA microarray analysis was used to compare the expression of 8,400 genes among three sample groups. Messenger RNAs that were pooled from the spinal nerves of 7 normal. 7 neuropathic pain, and 7 EA treatment rat models were compared. Sixty-eight genes were differentially expressed more than 2-fold in the neuropathic rat model when compared to the normal, and restored to the normal expression level after the EA treatment. These genes are involved in a number of biological processes, including the signal transduction, gene expression, and nociceptive pathways. Confirmation of the differential gene expression was performed by a dot-blot analysis. Dot-blotting results showed that the opioid receptor sigma was among those genes. This indicates that opioid-signaling events are involved in neuropathic pain and the analgesic effects of EA. The potential application of these data include the identification and characterization of signaling pathways that are involved in the EA treatment, studies on the role of the opioid receptor in neuropathic pain, and further exploration on the role of selected identified genes in animal models.

• 동의신경정신과학회지
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• 제34권4호
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• pp.433-444
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• 2023

Objectives: This case study aimed to provide evidence of the combined use of Korean Medicine treatments, including electroacupuncture (EA) on scalp acupoints, as a useful intervention for post-stroke delirium. Methods: The patient in this study was diagnosed with Cerebral Infarction in Right Corpus Callosum and post-stroke delirium. The patient received eight sessions of EA on scalp acupoints, rehabilitation medicine treatment, and other Korean Medicine treatments such as acupuncture and herbal medicine. Evaluation of treatment effectiveness was done mainly through the Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale Korean (MDAS-K) and Mini-Mental State Examination Korean (MMSE-K). Results: MDAS-K score dropped from 20 to 9 and MMSE-K score increased from 15 to 21 during hospitalization, showing improvement in symptoms. Conclusions: Combined use of Korean medicine treatments including EA on scalp acupoints may be an effective treatment for post-stroke delirium.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.339-345
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• 1998

This study was performed to investigate the effect of acupuncture in dogs with experimentally induced thoracic disease. Twenty four dogs and 16 cats for the heart study, were divided into four groups(each of 6 in dogs, each of 4 in cats): laserpuncture, electroacupuncture, acupuncture and control group. Heart disease was induced by partial pericardiectomy, and then treatment was done once daily for 4 days. The acupoints used were Xin-shu and Nei-guan. The effect of acupuncture was evaluated by clinical symptom, blood chemical values, electrocardiogram(ECG) and histopathological findings. In dogs, acupuncture group revealed relatively fast recovery and laserpuncture group revealed secondly fast recovery after treatment. In catsl lasewuncture group revealed relatively fast recover and acnpuncture group reveaBed secondly fast recovery after treatment Sixteen dogs for the lung study, were divided into flour groups(each of 4) : laserpuncture, electroacupunchuf, acupuncture and control group. Lung disease was induced by partial lung lobectomy, and then treatment was done once daily for 4 days. The acupoints used were Fei-shu and Shen- zhu. The effect of acupuncture was evaluated by clinical symptoms blood chemical values and histopathological findings. Acupuncture and laserpuncture group revealed relatively fast recovery compared with other groups.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제29권3호
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• pp.621-628
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• 2008

Objectives : The aim of this study was to investigate changes of gastric vagal nerve activity and pyloric valve function after execution of combination treatments of both electroacupuncture at Zusanli(ST36) and manual acupuncture at other acupoints in patient with functional dyspepsia. Methods : Bowel sounds of 49 patients (18 male, 31 female) were recorded and their % of bowel sound (%BS) and ratio of dominant frequency (DF) were analyzed. Postprandial %BS was used to indicate the gastric vagal activity after eating. Ratio of postprandial/fasting dominant frequency was used to present the degree of pyloric valve function. According to values of %BS and DF ratio, each patient was classified into normal or abnormal (<6 %BS, hypoactivity: <1 DF ratio, dysfunction) group. For 2 weeks, patients received a treatment consisting of both electroacupuncture stimulation at Zusanli (ST36) and acupuncture at other meridian points. Variation of parameters shifting normal to abnormal or abnormal to normal was observed, and total cure rate was calculated. Results : Total cure rate of %BS was 16%, and that of DF was 37%. Patients who improved to normal value from abnormal or aggravated to abnormal level showed both significant difference in both vagal nerve hypoactivity and pyloric valve dysfunction, respectively. Conclusions : Analysis of bowel sound might be useful to evaluate both gastric vagal nerve activity and pyloric valve function. Combination effects of Zusanli (ST36) electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture of other acupoints showed a bidirectional effect in which their activity and function were in general improved. sometimes from aggravated to abnormal level.

• 대한한방부인과학회지
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.37-56
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of electroacupuncture for treating postpartum hypogalactia. Methods: We searched 9 databases on May, 2022, which contained four English, two Chinese, one Japanese, and two Korean databases. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible. Measurement of outcome included total effective rate, lactation amount, serum prolactin level, and degree of breast fullness. The risk of bias was assessed by two independent authors using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: 101 trials were screened, 5 RCTs were finally selected. Number of participants per study ranged from 56 to 273. The treatment group was effective of improving total effective rate, lactation amount, serum prolactin level compared with control group, and the result was stastically significant. The quality of the evidence for specific comparisons ranged from low to high. Conclusions: Included studies showed that electroacupuncture on acupoints related to lactation would be effective way to increase milk supply among mothers who are suffering from postpartum hypogalactia. In the future, further high-quality RCTs are needed to prove effectiveness of electroacupuncture for relieving hypogalactia with low risk of bias.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.101-113
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• 2006

Objectives : This study was designed to evaluate the effect of electroacupuncture at ciliao(BL32) on voiding pattern and uroflowmetry of patients with functional voiding disease. Methods Subjects were voluntarily recruited by newspaper·s and internet. All the subjects were confirmed as International Prostatism Symptom Score(IPSS), uroflowmetry, voiding diary, symptom. The acupuncture therapy was performed 3 times a week for 3 weeks by oriental medical doctor at hospital. Acupuncture points were BL32. The patient's symptoms were assessed before and after 3 weeks treatments by IPSS. Uroflowmetry for 5minutes and voiding diary for 48 hours was measured before and after 3 weeks treatments. Results : The results were as follows; 1. After 3 weeks compared to the pre-treatment, IPSS(QOL) scores were significantly unproved. 2. After 3 weeks compared to the pre-treatment, mean voiding volume, min voiding volume and mean voiding time on voiding daiary was significantly improved. 3. After 3 weeks compared to the pre-treatment, max flow velocity and mean flow velocity on uroflowmetry in spite of increase of voiding volume show a statistically significant difference. 4. Acupunctue had hardly some side effect compared to operation and medicines and was economical. Conclusion : This study suggests that acupuncture treatments can be applicable to improve symptoms in the patients with functional voiding disease. Further study on the acupuncture and other acupoints in the patients with functional voiding disease is recommended.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.221-232
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• 2008

Objectives : The study was performed to evaluate the effect of treatment for spondylolisthesis by using electroacupuncture at Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue is located about 0.5Cun(寸) at both sides of spinous process of each vertebra. Methods : This clinical study was carried out 5 case with spondylolisthesis, who had bean treated from December, 2006 to November, 2007, in the department of acupuncture and moxibustion, Dongshin University Oriental Medical Hospital. We treated the patient who was diagnosed as spondylolisthesis by simple X-ray or MRI. Results : 1. Degenerative type is 3 cases, and isthmic type is 2 cases. 2. In the distribution of injured level was between 4-5th lumbar vertebra the most(3 cases). 3. The improvement index showed 0.29, 0.56, 0.43 points in degerative type, and 0.39, 0.36 points in isthmic type. 4. Therapeutic efforts above "good" by Kim's criteria was 4 cases. 5. Good improvement was showed in VAS about average 3.4. Conclusions : There was reports about Hua-Tuo-Jia-Ji-Xue electronic acupuncture treatment of patients with spondylolisthesis. It is very effective to improve condition of patients with spondylolisthesis.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제35권1호
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• pp.27-35
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• 2018

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to investigate the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture(EA) and radio-frequency warm needling(RFWN) stimulation in acupoint combination on ankle sprained pain in rats. Methods : The lateral ligaments of the Sprague-Dawley rats ankle were injured surgically resulting in sprain, of which was divided into EA, RFWN treatment groups and control group without treatment. The level of pain was measured through foot weight bearing force ratio followed by calculating pain relief. To stimulate proximal or distal area in ankle sprain, combination of proximal acupoints(GB34-GB39) and distal acupoints(GB39-GB42) from sprain area were applied, respectively, to either EA or RFWN stimulation. In addition, naltrexone or phentolamine was injected intraperitoneally before the stimulation to observe the pathway of analgesic effects. Results : In the proximal combination of GB34-GB39, EA and RFWN significantly increased pain relief compared to the control group (p<0.05). However, in distal combination with GB39-GB42, both EA and RFWN stimulation did not relieve pain due to ankle sprains. In the combination of GB34-GB39, the analgesia of EA was inhibited by blockade of the ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptor receptor. The analgesia of RFWN was inhibited by blockade of the ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptor receptor as well as ${\mu}$-opioid receptor. Conclusions : We observed that the proximal combination was effective in relieving pain when the treatment by acupoint combination was applied to the ankle sprain pain. Also, it was confirmed that this analgesia was also related to the pathways of ${\mu}$-opioid receptors and/or ${\alpha}$-adrenoceptors.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• 제39권3호
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• pp.159-169
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• 2022

Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) is a term that applies to symptoms such as persistent or recurring low back pain, paresthesia, sciatica, or numbness after spine surgery. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been reported to have excellent analgesic effects although there have been no systematic reviews on the effects of EA on FBSS. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of EA on FBSS was conducted. Eight databases were searched for studies that used EA for FBSS and 7 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included. RCTs of EA as combination therapy for FBSS compared with conventional treatment demonstrated improvement in the level of pain, lumbar functional scale scores, and quality of life. However, meta-analysis showed that reduction in pain was not statistically significant, while evaluation of lumbar function significantly improved, although the quality of evidence in the RCTs was generally low. RCTs comparing EA alone with conventional treatment demonstrated an improved level of pain, lumbar function, and effective rate of treatment. Meta-analysis showed that pain was significantly decreased in the EA alone group compared with the control group, although the quality of evidence was low. To improve the quality of evidence, high-quality RCTs are required in the future.

• 한방안이비인후피부과학회지
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• 제33권3호
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• pp.45-68
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• 2020

Objectives : This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of manual and electroacupuncture on glaucoma. Method : We searched 11 electronic databases using index words to identify randomized clinical trials. Meta-analysis of weighted mean difference (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD) were used to evaluate the outcomes. Cochrane bias risk assessment tool was used to assess the risk of bias in each clinical study. The collected data was analyzed using RevMan software (ver. 5.3). Results : At the initial stage of data retrieval, 549 papers were searched. After reviewing 37 full texts, a total of 10 RCT studies (426patients, 715 eyes) were selected and 8 RCT studies (357 people, 617 eyes) were involved in meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of 8 RCTs showed that acupuncture alone was more effective in reducing intraocular pressure(IOP) than conventional treatment (WMD = -5.73, 95% CI: [-12.30, 0.83], P = 0.09, I² = 97%) The combination of acupuncture or electroacupuncture with conventional treatment was also effective in lowering IOP (WMD = -1.84, 95% CI: [-2.31, -1.37], P <0.00001, I² = 45%). It was estimated that the combination of acupuncture with conventional treatment was also effective for improving visual field (VF) (WMD = -2.17, 95% CI: [-4.32, -0.02], P = 0.05, I² = 89%) but improvement in visual acuity (VA) was not significant (MD = 0.06, 95% CI: [-0.03, 0.15], P = 0.23, I² = 0%). Subgroup analyzes were performed only for the studies that used open glaucoma as the study's disease and combination of acupuncture or electroacupuncture with conventional therapy would have an effect on lowering intraocular pressure (WMD = -1.68)., 95% CI: [-2.46, -0.90], P <0.0001, I² = 29%). Conclusion : This study suggests that acupuncture treatment for glaucoma may be effective in reducing intraocular pressure and helpful in improving visual field defects. However, due to the small sample size, high risk of bias and high heterogeneity in the methodology, it is expected that further studies will be needed to verify the results. Further studies in large-scale samples based on a minimized biased methodology would be necessary.