Acupuncture Modulates Systemic Inflammation by Driving Somatosensory Autonomic Pathways

Abstract

Acupuncture has been used to treat human diseases for thousands of years, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we used genetic tools to manipulate somatosensory and autonomic neurons, and showed that electroacupuncture can drive various somato-autonomic pathways in a body region- and stimulation intensity-dependent manner. Using cytokine release syndromes induced by bacterial endotoxins as the experimental model, we further showed that electroacupuncutre can modulate sysemic inflammation in a disease state-dependent manner. Our studies could help to optimize electric stimulation parameters to treat severe systemic inflammation, whose management remains a major medical challenge.