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Acupuncture points can be identified as cutaneous neurogenic inflammatory spots.

ABSTRACT: Acupuncture, a traditional medical procedure practised for over 2000 years in Asia, stimulates specific but poorly defined sites called acupoints. To date, no unique anatomical acupoint structures have been found. However, noxious sensory signals from visceral organs produce hypersensitive spots on the skin (neurogenic spots), caused by cutaneous neurogenic inflammation, in the dermatome that overlaps with visceral afferent innervations. Here, we show that an acupoint is one form of neurogenic inflammation on the skin. Various studies have demonstrated that acupoints show mechanical hypersensitivity and have high electrical conductance. Stimulation of acupoints produces needling sensations caused by the activation of small diameter afferent nerve fibres and therapeutic effects on the associated visceral organs, which is likely due to the release of endogenous opioids. The present study provides experimental evidence that neurogenic spots exhibit all the characteristics of the acupoints listed above. In addition, the stimulation of neurogenic spots by electrical, mechanical, or chemical means alleviated pathological conditions in rat colitis and hypertension models via the endogenous opioid system. Our results suggest that acupoints associated with internal organs may be identical to neurogenic inflammatory spots on the skin, which are produced by activation of somatic afferents in abnormal conditions of visceral organs.

SUBMITTER: Kim DH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5680247 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Acupuncture points can be identified as cutaneous neurogenic inflammatory spots.

Kim Do-Hee DH Ryu Yeonhee Y Hahm Dae Hyun DH Sohn Boo Yong BY Shim Insop I Kwon O Sang OS Chang Suchan S Gwak Young Seob YS Kim Min Sun MS Kim Jae Hyo JH Lee Bong Hyo BH Jang Eun Young EY Zhao Rongjie R Chung Jin Mo JM Yang Chae Ha CH Kim Hee Young HY

Scientific reports 20171109 1

Acupuncture, a traditional medical procedure practised for over 2000 years in Asia, stimulates specific but poorly defined sites called acupoints. To date, no unique anatomical acupoint structures have been found. However, noxious sensory signals from visceral organs produce hypersensitive spots on the skin (neurogenic spots), caused by cutaneous neurogenic inflammation, in the dermatome that overlaps with visceral afferent innervations. Here, we show that an acupoint is one form of neurogenic i ...[more]

PMID: 29123119

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Project description:BackgroundMorphological characteristics of major facial hyperpigmented spots have been well documented. However, detailed alterations of respective transcriptional profile for each spot and in-depth comparisons across multiple spot types have not been reported.ObjectivesTo comprehensively assess and compare multiple facial hyperpigmented spot types at the morphological and molecular levels by utilising transcriptional expression profiling with correlation to quantified histological features.MethodsMultiple types of facial spot biopsies were collected from Chinese women and compared to additional biopsies taken from adjacent healthy skin. The types of spots included Solar Lentigos with both elongated dermal-epidermal junction (DEJ) (SL[E]) and flat DEJ (SL[F]), Seborrhoeic Keratosis (SK), Melasma, Freckles, Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation of resolving acne (PIH[A]) and other stimuli (PIH[O]). Combined histomorphometry, immunohistology, and transcriptome analysis for suprabasal-epidermis, basal-epidermis, and dermal compartments dissected by Laser Capture Microdissection (LCM) were conducted and compared across different spot types.ResultsEach spot type was confirmed to have the unique histological pathology already documented elsewhere. Most of the spot types except Melasma and PIH (A) revealed similar melanocyte density to adjacent skin. All spots exhibited increased melanin synthesis, melanosome transportation, as well as enhanced melanocyte dendricity, however, each spot revealed a distinct transcriptome regulation pattern in pigmentation pathways. Upregulation of pigmentation genes was also observed in the dermis of SL(F), SL(E), SK and PIH(O), associated with significant modulation of DEJ related genes in basal-epidermis and/or dermal compartments, suggesting potential melanocyte infiltration into the dermis due to impaired DEJ quality. Beyond upregulated pigmentation, for most spots, gene expression in the suprabasal-epidermis regulating keratinisation was significantly upregulated in conjunction with thickened stratum corneum. Furthermore, downregulation of tight junction related genes represented by claudin-1 was observed in majority of spot types, suggesting compromised barrier function could be a similarity across spots. Additionally, Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) was upregulated in all types of spots, indicating involvement of cell senescence as a common theme.ConclusionThis comprehensive and comparative study based on the histological and transcriptional analysis of three skin compartments provided unique insights into specific causations as well as differences and similarities across multiple hyperpigmented spot types.

Dataset Information

Acupuncture points can be identified as cutaneous neurogenic inflammatory spots.

Publications

Acupuncture points can be identified as cutaneous neurogenic inflammatory spots.

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