Alcian Blue Staining Technique for Tracing the Governing Vessel (GV) Meridian in Rat.

There has been much effort in search for the anatomical structure corresponding to acupuncture meridians without success. For this work one needs specific dyes that stain exclusively the tissues of acupuncture meridians. Until the present time no one was able to find the necessary dyes except Bong Han Kim who claimed finding such a dye to trace all the meridians. Unfortunately he kept this dye secret and no one was able to reproduce his result. Only very recently we found a staining dye, Alcian blue that stains the acupuncture meridian and were able to trace the governing vessel (GV) of a rat using this dye. After injection of Alcian blue at LSP (lumbar sacral point) of the GV meridian, we observed a blue line at the GV meridian above loose connective tissue. The dye flowed along the meridian from the acupuncture point, while it spread by diffusion process when injected at non-acupoints. The dye stains hyaluronic acid which is known to be highly concentrated in Bonghan duct system. Thus our observation is in agreement with Bonghan theory, and can be a starting point of tracing all other meridians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]