Further research is needed in regard to the effect of acupuncturing at sensitized acupoints

Further research is needed in regard to the effect of acupuncturing at sensitized acupoints. Acknowledgements We thank Dr. to detect the expression of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)- or substance P (SP)-labeled nerve fibers, histamine (HA)-, serotonin (5-HT)-, and tryptase-labeled cells in EB dots. FMF-04-159-2 Images were recorded and analyzed by Confocal imaging system and Olympus Image Processing Software. Results The results showed that GMI resulted in neurogenic plasma extravasation in the skin of the acupoints over the back and abdomen, which mostly occurred in the T9-11 dermatomere. The EB extravasation dots appeared after GMI and disappeared gradually during the natural self-recovery of the gastric mucosa. More SP and CGRP positive MHS3 nerve fibers were distributed in EB dots than that in regions beside EB dots and in the control, mostly distributed in the nerve fibers around both the vessels and root of hair follicle. Mast cells also aggregated and degranulated to release algogenic substances of 5-HT and HA around the vessels in areas of the EB dots. Conclusions Our results indicates that the mechanism of EB extravasation in the skin of the acupoints induced by GMI are closely related to neurogenic inflammation, and that the high expression of local allergic substances and nociceptive FMF-04-159-2 neuropeptides in the local skin including SP, CGRP, HA, FMF-04-159-2 5-HT, and mast cell tryptase may be the underlying mechanism of the acupoint sensitization. Keywords: Sensitized acupoints, Gastric mucosal injury, Nociceptive neuropeptide, HA, 5-HT, Mast cell Background In Chinese acupuncture practice, doctors careful detection of acupoints and patients subjective response to acupoint stimulation are major factors in effective treatment. Clinically, the most important step is to confirm the location of a sensitized acupoint, which then reflects a diagnosis, and can be stimulated with a specialized needle for treating the disease. Abnormal symptoms such as hyperalgesia or allodynia occurred at some sensitized acupoints in most patients when they are suffered with visceral disorders [1]. The sensitized points may be regular points, extra points, or Ashi points [2]. Hyperalgesia or allodynia at the sensitized acupoints are considered to be in relation with referred pain, a term defined by Head in 1983 and refers to the many forms of visceral pain felt in regions of the body other than the organ whose stimulation causes pain [3]. Over the past three decades connections between Head zones and acupoints have been discussed [4, 5]. A comparison of Heads papers with the oldest still extant Chinese sources on acupuncture revealed astonishing parallels between the two concepts regarding both point locations and functional aspects [4]. Strong functional relations between all Head zones, channels, and acupoints were found when following the pattern of segmental dermatomes [5], that is, areas of skin innervated by one and the same spinal nerve. Previous studies had suggested that mechanism of the referred visceral pain is related to central sensitization of the spinal cord and neurogenic inflammation [6, 7]. Recently,animal study on the mechanism of acupoint sensitization confirmed that pathological change of internal organs functional activity lead to the sensitization of spinal center and further to the changes of the size and function of acupoints on body surfaces [8]. Yet, limited study has investigated the cutaneous neurochemical changes of the sensitized acuponits. The purpose of this study was to develop an animal model of gastric mucosal injury (GMI) by acid-induced nociceptive event in rats. Evans Blue (EB) dye was applied by injection of tail vein after mucosal damage and the referred EB dots extravagated in the skin [7] were observed to give evidence for the kinetic distribution of sensitized acupoints. Immunohistochemistry analyses were used to observe.