Abstract
The involvement of the endogenous analgesia systems in the mechanism of analgesia produced by electrical stimulation of the brain or resulting from certain stressful manipulations seems now well-established. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether acupuncture as a method of peripheral sensory stimulation activates, like central stimulation, the endogenous opiate system. Plasma concentrations of ACTH and the best known endogenous opiates: beta-endorphin, met- and leu-enkephalin, were determined before and after standard electroacupuncture stimulation in healthy volunteers. Acupuncture stimulation resulted in a significant (p less than 0.005) decrease of plasma beta-endorphin-like immuno-reactivity (B-EPLI), but plasma ACTH assayed did not change about 5 minutes after acupuncture. The authors conclude that the reaction of the beta-endorphin system to acupuncture (sensory peripheral) stimulation in humans did not involve pituitary hypersecretion, and suggest that the increase of beta-endorphin binding to the tissue receptor sites seems to be responsible for the peripheral (plasma) B-EPLI decrease after acupuncture.
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