A new study from Rutgers Medical School adds further evidence of the efficacy of acupuncture, as scientists have shown a direct connection between acupuncture and physical mechanisms that heal sepsis, which is a common condition in hospital intensive care units. These results were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Sepsis causes around 250,000 deaths in the US each year, making it a major cause of death. “But in many cases patients don’t die because of the infection,” says lead author Luis Ulloa, an immunologist at Rutgers. “They die because of the inflammatory disorder they develop after the infection. So we hoped to study how to control the inflammatory disorder.”
Researchers from this latest study say they already knew that stimulating the vagus nerve – a major nerve in the body – activates mechanisms in the body that reduce inflammation. As such, they tested whether electroacupuncture – a form of acupuncture that involves sending a small electric current through the nerves – would reduce inflammation and organ injury in mice with sepsis. In the electroacupuncture group, half of the septic mice survived. In contrast, the sham group, meaning septic mice who did not receive electroacupuncture, all died.
As predicted, when they performed the electroacupuncture on septic mice, the researchers found that cytokines – molecules that help reduce inflammation – were stimulated. Though they were pleased with their results, upon further investigation into why the acupuncture worked so well, Ulloa and his colleagues found that when they removed adrenal glands, which produce hormones in the body, the electroacupuncture stopped being effective.
This finding initially dashed their hopes for using this technique in humans because most human sepsis cases carry with them reduced adrenal function. Though electroacupuncture might help a small number of patients with functioning adrenal glands, it would not work in many others.
Not deterred, the scientists looked into the anatomical changes that took place when the technique was carried out with fully functional adrenal glands.
They found these changes included raised levels of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that influences the immune system. However, simply adding dopamine by itself did not help reduce the inflammation.
It was not until they used a drug called fenoldopam – which mimics the effects of dopamine – that they were able to succeed in reducing deaths caused by sepsis by 40%.
Potential treatment for other inflammatory diseases
The team notes that, even without acupuncture, fenoldopam was able to achieve the reduction in deaths.
They say their findings are significant because they provide evidence of acupuncture’s benefits beyond what has been shown before, and they also show uses for treating other inflammatory diseases besides sepsis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and Crohn’s disease.
Additionally, they say they have provided a potential avenue for developing drugs for humans that could reduce sepsis deaths. Because there is currently no FDA-approved drug to treat sepsis, Ulloa says this finding is advantageous.
