Department of Anesthesiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:878673. doi: 10.1155/2012/878673. Epub 2011 Dec 18.
Hypertension affects approximately 1 billion individuals worldwide. Pharmacological therapy has not been perfected and often is associated with adverse side effects. Acupuncture is used as an adjunctive treatment for a number of cardiovascular diseases like hypertension. It has long been established that the two major contributors to systemic hypertension are the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system and chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Recent evidence indicates that in some models of cardiovascular disease, blockade of AT1 receptors in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (rVLM) reduces sympathetic nerve activity and blood pressure, suggesting that overactivity of the angiotensin system in this nucleus may play a role in the maintenance of hypertension. Our experimental studies have shown that electroacupuncture stimulation activates neurons in the arcuate nucleus, ventrolateral gray, and nucleus raphe to inhibit the neural activity in the rVLM in a model of visceral reflex stimulation-induced hypertension. This paper will discuss current knowledge of the effects of acupuncture on central nervous system and how they contribute to regulation of acupuncture on the endocrine system to provide a perspective on the future of treatment of hypertension with this ancient technique.
高血压影响全球约 10 亿人。药物治疗尚未完善，且常伴有不良反应。针灸被用作治疗高血压等心血管疾病的辅助手段。长期以来，人们已经确定，导致系统性高血压的两个主要因素是肾内肾素-血管紧张素系统和交感神经系统的慢性激活。最近的证据表明，在一些心血管疾病模型中，阻断延髓头端腹外侧区 (rVLM) 的 AT1 受体可降低交感神经活性和血压，这表明血管紧张素系统在该核中的过度活跃可能在维持高血压中发挥作用。我们的实验研究表明，电针刺激可激活弓状核、腹外侧灰和中缝核中的神经元，抑制内脏反射刺激诱导的高血压模型中 rVLM 的神经活动。本文将讨论针灸对中枢神经系统的影响及其如何有助于调节针灸对内分泌系统的影响，为用这种古老技术治疗高血压的未来提供一个视角。
