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Cumulative evidence suggests that immunologic responses are under the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. Since acupuncture has recently been reported to modulate the autonomic nervous system, we investigated the possibility that acupuncture eventually modulates the immune system. In the present study, electro-acupuncture was applied in young volunteer subjects. As for the proportions of granulocytes and lymphocytes in the blood, there were three groups: (1) granulocytosis and lymphocytopenia; (2) granulocytopenia and lymphocytosis; and (3) normal pattern. Interestingly, with the administration of acupuncture, the status of subjects with relatively low levels of granulocytes and high levels of lymphocytes shifted to Group 1, whereas that of subjects with high levels of granulocytes and low levels of lymphocytes shifted to Group 2. In other words, acupuncture tended to normalize the pattern of leukocytes. We confirmed that acupuncture induced parasympathetic nerve stimulation, resulting in a decrease in the heart rate. These results suggest possible mechanisms underlying how acupuncture ameliorates the condition of patients with many chronic diseases.

The effects of repetitive electrical stimulation of a lumbar sympathetic trunk (LST) for 30 s at various frequencies and supramaximum intensity on the nerve blood flow in a sciatic nerve were studied by laser Doppler flowmetry in anesthetized Fischer-344 male rats. The response was biphasic; i.e. an initial increase and then a decrease. The maximum mean increase after 2 Hz stimulation was 22 +/- 8%, while the maximum mean decrease after 20-50 Hz stimulation was 79 +/- 3%, of the prestimulus control level. The initial increase, which was greater at lower frequencies and existed even after local sympathetic denervation, was passive, and was caused by the systemic pressor response to LST stimulation. The decrease, which was nearly abolished by an i.v. alpha-adrenergic blocker, phentolamine (10 mg/kg), resulted from vasoconstriction in the vasa nervorum, mainly via activation of alpha-adrenergic receptors.