간단히 설명하면 침 맞으면 면역력이 올라가는데 뇌의 시상하부 좌측핵이 관련되었다는 이야기입니다.
그 과정이 뇌 시상하부의 좌측핵을 거쳐서 간다는 이야기 입니다. 침 맞으면 기운 빠지는게 아니라 면역력이 좋아집니다.
Neurosci Lett. 2002 Aug 23;329(1):1-4.
Modulation of natural killer cell activity affected by electroacupuncture through lateral hypothalamic area in rats.
Choi GS, Oha SD, Han JB, Bae HS, Cho YW, Yun YS, Lee WK, Ahn HJ, Min BI.
Department of East-West Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
Electroacupuncture (EA) has been reported to modulate natural killer cell (NK cell) activities.
Also it is well known that hypothalamus directly mediates the effects of EA on analgesia.
Especially lateral hypothalamic area (LHA) is related to splenic NK cell activities.
In order to investigate the relationship between hypothalamus and effects of EA on NK cell activity,
lesions have been made bilaterally at LHA of Spraque-Dawley rats. Subsequently,
NK cell cytotoxities of normal and lesioned rats were measured with (51)Cr release immunoassay after EA stimulation for 2 and 14 days.
NK cell activity of EA group was significantly higher than sham group. In addition, lesions abolished effects of EA on NK cell activity.
These results strongly suggest that LHA is closely related to increase of NK cell activity induced by EA.
Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland, Ltd.
Journal of Neuroimmunology에 실린 논문입니다
뜸도 우리 몸의 면역력과 관련되는데 뜸작용이 교감신경계와 관련이 있다는 이야기 입니다
J Neuroimmunol. 2003 Jul;140(1-2):159-62
The role of the sympathetic nervous system in moxibustion-induced immunomodulation in rats.
Han JB, Oh SD, Lee KS, Choi KS, Cho YW, Ahn HO, Bae H, Min BI.
Department of East-West Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung-Hee University, #1 Hoegi-Dong, Dongdaemun-Gu, 130-701, Seoul, South Korea.
The effects of chemical sympathectomy on moxibustion-induced changes in splenic natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity, T and B cell proliferation were studied. Direct moxibustion was applied to the unilateral Zusanli region. NK cell cytotoxicity was suppressed by moxibustion in both vehicle-treated rats and sympathectomized rats. T cell proliferation was not affected by moxibustion. B cell proliferation showed no significant change in vehicle-treated rats, but an increase was seen in sympathectomized rats treated with moxibustion. Sympathectomy alone induced an augmentation of NK cell cytotoxicity and a suppression of T cell proliferation. These results suggest that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) has no significant role in the mechanism of moxibustion-induced immunomodulation.
PMID: 12864984 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Am J Chin Med. 2004;32(2):303-12.
Effects of moxibustion to zusanli (ST36) on alteration of natural killer cell activity in rats.
Choi GS, Han JB, Park JH, Oh SD, Lee GS, Bae HS, Jung SK, Cho YW, Ahn HJ, Min BI.
Department of East-West Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
Moxibustion is one of the major healing techniques in Oriental medicine. It has been widely used in many diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto disease, breech presentation, etc. However, till now, effects of moxibustion on natural killer (NK) cell activity and relations between sympathetic nerve system (SNS) and the immune alteration induced by moxibustion were not well studied. This study was designed to evaluate effects of moxibustion on NK cell activity and the intervention of SNS in the alteration of NK cell activity induced by moxibustion. Splenic NK cell cytotoxicity was measured in a standard 4-hour 51Cr release assay. We measured the NK cell cytotoxicity after moxibustion stimulation for 1, 3, 5 and 7 days, and also measured the NK cell cytotoxicity after 3 and 7 days burn stimulation with similar temperature. Interleukin (IL)-2, -4 and interferon (INF)-gamma in serum were measured by rat IL-2, -4 and INF-gamma ELISA test kit. To evaluate the effects of sympathectomy on alteration of NK cell cytotoxicity, 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA: 50 mg/kg) was used. We showed that NK cell activity of moxibustion stimulation group increased at the 3rd day, and declined at the 7th day in comparison with that of the control group. In the moxibustion stimulation group, NK cell activity was significantly higher than the sham group at the 3rd day. On the contrary, in the burn stimulation group, NK cell activity was significantly higher than that of the sham groups at 3rd and 7th days. INF-gamma level after 3 days in the moxibustion stimulation group was significantly higher than that of the sham group. IL-2 level among groups were not different. IL-4 was not detected in serum with this method. Sympathectomy abolished the NK cell activity alteration induced by moxibustion. The results suggest that moxibustion modulates NK cell activity, along with INF-gamma, and SNS is mediating these effects.
American Journal of Chinese Medicine에 실린 논문입니다
카톨릭대 전신수 교수팀과 같이 한 연구인데 동아일보 기사에도 났습니다
Am J Chin Med. 2005;33(4):573-8.
Acupuncture stimulation for motor cortex activities: a 3T fMRI study.
Jeun SS, Kim JS, Kim BS, Park SD, Lim EC, Choi GS, Choe BY.
Department of Neurosurgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. ssjeun@catholic.ac.kr
The acupoint, GB34, located in the back of the knee, is known to be effective in recovering motor function after a stroke. This study uses a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study with 3T scanner to investigate whether or not acupuncture of GB34 produces a significant response of the modulation of somatomotor areas. A fMRI of the whole brain was performed in ten normal healthy subjects during two task stimulations of acupuncture manipulation on GB34 and sham points, inserting and twisting the needle for 25 seconds at a rate of approximately 120 times per minute; the needle manipulation was paused for a duration of 25 seconds as a control state. The process was repeated four times to have four epochs of stimulation. Bilateral sensorimotor areas (BA 3, 4, 6 and 7) showed approximately 6% of stimulation-related BOLD signal contrast, whereas very few areas were activated when sham stimulation was given. Acupuncture stimulation in GB34 modulates the cortical activities of the somatomotor area in humans. The present findings may shed light on the CNS mechanism of motor function by acupuncture, and form a basis for future investigations of motor modulation circuits in stroke patients.
뇌가 잘못됐는데 다리에 針을?… ‘침의 신비’ 과학적 입증
뇌중풍(뇌졸중)으로 한쪽 팔다리가 마비되면 한방에서는 침(鍼)을 놓는다. 그러나 현대의학은 침술의 효과를 부정한다. 팔다리에 침을 놓는다고 운동을 담당하는 뇌 기능이 좋아지지는 않는다는 것.
이 이론을 뒤집는 과학적 연구결과가 국내 연구진에 의해 세계 처음으로 나왔다.
가톨릭대 의대 신경외과 전신수(全信秀) 교수와 동서한방병원 박상동(朴尙東) 원장 등이 공동 연구한 이 내용은 동양의학의 최고권위지인 ‘아메리카저널 오브 차이니즈 메디신’에 게재될 예정이다.
▽마비, 침술로 풀 수 있다=현대의학의 관점에서는 손발은 뇌의 운동피질에서 내린 명령에 따라 움직인다. 반대로 손발에 자극을 줬다 해서 뇌의 운동피질이 활성화되지는 않는다.
그러나 이번 연구에서 침으로 정확하게 자극하면 뇌의 운동피질이 활성화되는 것으로 확인됐다.연구팀은 2001년 2월부터 지난해 12월까지 20명을 두 그룹으로 나눠 A그룹에는 뇌중풍 마비 치료효과가 가장 높은 양릉천(陽陵泉)혈에 침을 놓고 B그룹에는 양릉천혈 주위에 침을 놓은 뒤 기능성자기공명영상(f-MRI)으로 뇌를 촬영했다. 그 결과 A그룹은 모두 뇌의 운동피질이 활성화된 반면 B그룹은 아무런 변화가 없었다. ▽한방 과학화, 돛 올렸다=동물실험에서 경락이 확인된 적은 있지만 실제 사람에게서 경락과 경혈의 존재가 입증된 것은 이번이 처음이다. 또 반쪽 마비가 올 때 마비가 없는 반대쪽 팔다리에 침을 놓는다는 동의보감의 내용이 과학적으로 타당하다는 것도 이번에 확인됐다.
이번 연구결과 왼쪽 다리의 양릉천혈에 침을 놓으면 왼쪽 뇌의 운동피질이 활성화됐다. 과학적으로 왼쪽 뇌는 인체의 오른쪽을 지배한다. 따라서 왼쪽 뇌가 활성화되면 인체의 오른쪽 운동기능이 개선되는 것이다. 결국 마비된 반대쪽에 침을 놓는, 그동안의 침술치료법이 과학적 근거를 갖게 된 셈이다.
김상훈기자 corekim@donga.com
Journal of Neuroimmunology에 실린 논문입니다
J Neuroimmunol. 2005 Nov;168(1-2):144-53.
Electroacupuncture up-regulates natural killer cell activity Identification of genes altering their expressions in electroacupuncture induced up-regulation of natural killer cell activity.
Kim CK, Choi GS, Oh SD, Han JB, Kim SK, Ahn HJ, Bae H, Min BI.
Department of East-West Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.
As an important cellular component of the innate immune system, NK cells constitute a first line of defense against various infections and malignancies. Previous studies have reported electroacupuncture (EA) modulation of natural killer cell (NK cell) activities. Our study confirmed that EA treatment increases NK cell activity using (51)Cr release assay. Furthermore, in order to better understand the activation mechanism of NK cell by EA, we employed a cDNA microarray technique to elucidate how EA alters gene expressions in the spleen of rats. We screened EA responsive genes using a high-throughput screening and identified 154 genes. Among those genes we selected 4 genes that are known to play a crucial role in NK cell activation and examined their mRNA expressions after EA treatment using RT-PCR. Our data shows that EA treatment increased CD94, PTK and VCAM-1 expressions while decreased PTP and SHP-1. These results imply that EA treatment increase PTK expression, which increases NK cell activity, through induction of CD94 while decreases SHP-1, which inhibits NK cell activity, simultaneously so that it activates NK cell with high efficacy. It seems that increased VCAM-1 expression is due to INF-gamma produced by activated NK cell. Increased production of VCAM-1 is expected to play an important role in binding of NK cell to the target cell. The result of our study may provide key insights in understanding the mechanisms of activation of NK cell induced by EA.
Molecular Cells에 실린 논문입니다
Mol Cells. 2008 Apr 30;25(2):178-83. Epub 2008 Mar 28
Molecular changes in remote tissues induced by electro-acupuncture stimulation at acupoint ST36.
Rho SW, Choi GS, Ko EJ, Kim SK, Lee YS, Lee HJ, Hong MC, Shin MK, Min BI, Kee HJ, Lee CK, Bae HS.
College of Oriental Medicine, Kyunghee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on regions remote from the application, we measured cellular, enzymatic, and transcriptional activities in various internal tissues of healthy rats. The EA was applied to the well-identified acupoint ST36 of the leg. After application, we measured the activity of natural killer cells in the spleen, gene expression in the hypothalamus, and the activities of antioxidative enzymes in the hypothalamus, liver and red blood cells. The EA treatment increased natural killer cell activity in the spleen by approximately 44%. It also induced genes related to pain, including 5-Hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) receptor 3a (Htr3a) and Endothelin receptor type B (Ednrb) in the hypothalamus, and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase in the hypothalamus, liver, and red blood cells. These findings indicate that EA mediates its effects through changes in cellular activity, gene expression, and enzymatic activity in multiple remote tissues. The sum of these alterations may explain the beneficial effects of EA.
