Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Institute of Biomedical Research, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.
Neurosci Lett. 2010 Oct 22;484(1):47-50. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2010.08.016. Epub 2010 Aug 13.
Acupuncture has increasingly been used to treat many conditions, including psychiatric disorders and immunological-related disorders. However, the effects of acupuncture as stress management and immune functions in the elderly are largely unclear. Here we investigated the effects of acupuncture on stress-related psychological symptoms and cellular immunity in young adults and elderly subjects. The acupuncture treatment consisted of six sessions and the procedures included the insertion of needles at bilateral acupoints LI4, SP6 and ST36. Psychological variables (depression, anxiety and stress) were investigated by means of self-assessment inventories. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated and cultured in vitro to measure mitogen-induced T-cell proliferation as well as cellular sensitivity to dexamethasone. All data were assessed before and after the intervention. Acupuncture was able to significantly reduce depression (p<0.001), anxiety (p<0.001) and stress (p<0.001) scores. The intervention also increased T-cell proliferation, with greater intensity in the elderly group (p=0.004). No changes in cellular sensitivity to dexamethasone were observed following acupuncture. We conclude that acupuncture was efficient to attenuate the psychological distress as well as to increase an important feature of cellular immunosenescence.
针灸已被越来越多地用于治疗多种疾病，包括精神障碍和与免疫相关的疾病。然而，针灸作为老年人压力管理和免疫功能的效果在很大程度上尚不清楚。在这里，我们研究了针灸对年轻人和老年人的应激相关心理症状和细胞免疫的影响。针灸治疗包括六次疗程，包括在双侧穴位 LI4、SP6 和 ST36 插入针。通过自我评估问卷研究了心理变量（抑郁、焦虑和压力）。分离和培养外周血单核细胞，以测量有丝分裂原诱导的 T 细胞增殖以及细胞对地塞米松的敏感性。所有数据均在干预前后进行评估。针灸能够显著降低抑郁（p<0.001）、焦虑（p<0.001）和压力（p<0.001）评分。该干预还增加了 T 细胞增殖，在老年组中强度更大（p=0.004）。针灸后细胞对地塞米松的敏感性没有变化。我们得出结论，针灸能够有效地减轻心理困扰，并增加细胞免疫衰老的一个重要特征。
