Neurochemical Basis of Acupuncture Analgesia

摘要: A review on acupuncture and its neurochemical basis may not seem to be within the general scope of this series. However, phenomenon has attracted interest scientists from several disciplines, including phar­ macologists, use drugs as probes been instrumental in estab­ lishing acupuncture. We have found it necessary limit our studies for relief pain since research other areas is still infancy. Since much work field published periodicals easily accessible scientific community linguistic or reasons, we chosen provide a fairly extensive documentation. Although very long history means relieving (1, 2), study began recently. Early revealed that analgesic effect was blocked by procaine infiltration points possible induce analgesia paraplegic hemiplegic patients, pointing importance afferent transmission (3-6). Involvement chemical mediators central nervous system (CNS) suggested experiments where cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) donor rabbits given infused into cerebral ventricles recipient rabbits, increasing their thresholds (7). An important series findings came 1970s when investiga­ tors presented carefully controlled experimental using different ap­ proaches. Andersson et al verified pain, experimentally induced tooth pulp stimulation healthy volun-