International Scientific Acupuncture and Meridian Symposium 2015

The following abstracts are in the proceedings of the International Scientific Acupuncture and Meridian Symposium, October 2–4, 2015, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.

Acupuncture Reduces Memory Impairment and Oxidative Stress and Enhances Cholinergic Function in an Animal Model of Alcoholism

Nattaporn Phunchago

Corresponding author’s affiliation: Department of Physiology (Neuroscience Program), Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. ultranat@hotmail.com

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

pISSN 2005-2901 eISSN 2093-8152

Abstract

Currently, the therapeutic strategy against memory deficit induced by alcoholism is not satisfactory and is expensive. Therefore, an effective, low-cost strategy is required. On the basis of the memory-enhancing effect of stimulation of the HT7 acupoint, we aimed to determine whether acupuncture at the HT7 acupoint can reduce alcoholism-induced memory impairment. The possible underlying mechanism was also explored. Alcoholism was induced in male Wistar rats weighing 180—220 g. The alcoholic rats received either acupuncture at HT7 or sham acupuncture for 1 minute bilaterally once daily for 14 days. Their spatial memory was assessed after 1 day, 7 days, and 14 days of treatment. At the end of the study, the malondialdehyde level and the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and acetylcholinesterase enzymes in the hippocampus were determined using colorimetric assays. The results showed that acupuncture at HT7 significantly decreased the acetylcholinesterase activity and the malondialdehyde level, but increased the activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathione peroxidase in the hippocampus. These results suggest that acupuncture at HT7 can effectively reduce the alcoholism-induced memory deficit. However, further studies concerning the detailed relationships between the location of the HT7 acupoint and the changes in the observed parameters are required.

Keywords: AChE, acupuncture, alcoholism, memory impairment, oxidative stress.

Spirituality in healthcare: evidence from New Zealand studies

Richard Egan

Corresponding author’s affiliation: University of Otago, New Zealand. richard.egan@otago.ac.nz

Abstract

Spirituality, while a contested concept, is increasingly being addressed in healthcare policy, training and practice. For instance, New Zealand’s Ministry of Health Guidance for Improving Supportive Care for Adults with Cancer in New Zealand (2010) states, “It is essential that all staff working in cancer treatment services have a basic understanding of the spiritual needs of people with cancer, possess the skills to assess those needs and know how to go about contacting spiritual caregivers when required. Training specific to the cultural and spiritual needs of Māori is essential. (p.46)”

But what does ‘spirituality’ and ‘spiritual needs’ mean? Why is it important? How is such care assessed and addressed? These and other questions will be considered in this presentation from principle, evidence and zeitgeist informed perspectives. A particular focus will be on recent New Zealand studies that have explored spirituality in end-of-life care, aged residential care, dementia and renal care. These studies, combined with developing international evidence, suggest patient-led care that aims to attend to the whole person needs to explicitly include the spiritual dimension.

Acupuncture Suppresses Morphine Craving in Progressive Ratio through the Gaba System

Bong Hyo Lee

Corresponding author’s affiliation: Daegu Haany University, Korea. rjscjs31@hanmail.net

Abstract

Objectives: Previous studies revealed that acupuncture suppresses morphine self-administration as well as morphineseeking behavior after abstinence. Based on these results, this study examined whether acupuncture attenuates morphine-craving under a progressive ratio (PR) schedule, and investigated the possible neuronal mechanism.

Materials and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer morphine (0.5 mg/kg) under a fixed ratio for 9 days, and rats who achieved stable infusion were switched to PR. When animals had taken no more morphine for 1 h, the number of infusions was defined as break point (BP). After PR training, animals that established stable BP received acupuncture the next day. Acupuncture was applied for 1 min immediately before the test session. Bicuculline (1.0 mg/kg) and SCH 50911 (2.0 mg/kg) were given 30 min prior to acupuncture. The c-Fos was examined in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc).

Results: Acupuncture at SI5, reduced the BP significantly. In addition, the effects of acupuncture were blocked by either bicuculline or SCH 50911. Immunofluorescence revealed that acupuncture at SI5 decreased c-Fos expression in the VTA and NAc.

Conclusions: Results of this study demonstrate that acupuncture at SI5 is effective for the treatment of morphine-craving, and that this effect is mediated via GABA pathway.

Keywords: GABA; SI5; acupuncture; morphine; progressive ratio; self-administration.

Acupuncture for pain management in evidence-based medicine

Lixing Lao

Corresponding author’s affiliation: Corresponding author. School of Chinese Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. lxlao1@hku.hk

Abstract

Acupuncture has been one of the clinical practices used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for thousands of years; it has advantages for treatment of pain and related conditions. With the development of evidence-based medicine, there have been extensive clinical studies conducted on acupuncture to determine its safety, efficacy, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness for different kinds of pain, thus use of acupuncture has become more and more popular in western countries. Randomized controlled trial (RCT) which has been considered as the “gold standard” research design for assessing the efficacy of interventions, is widely used. Generally, results from RCTs indicated that acupuncture is effective in chronic pain management, such as musculoskeletal pain and osteoarthritis pain. Recently, a pilot randomized delayed entry clinical trial conducted in U.S. assessed the effectiveness of a new technique of auricular acupuncture named Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) in chronic spinal cord injury-related neuropathic pain; results have provided proof of concept that BFA has a clinically meaningful effect in pain relief.

Systematic review based on multiple high-quality RCTs provides the strongest evidence in the practice of evidence-based medicine. In a comprehensive systematic review on acupuncture for chronic pain which included raw data of patients in 29 RCTs, acupuncture is significantly more effective in pain relief than usual care or sham acupuncture. The results indicated that acupuncture treatments provide not only psychological effects, but also specific effects. Evidence showed that acupuncture treatments for chronic pain management is safe and effective; it should be widely used in clinical practices.

Keywords: Acupuncture, evidence-based medicine, pain management, research methodology.