School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:429412. doi: 10.1155/2012/429412. Epub 2012 Mar 8.
When an acupuncture needle is inserted into a designated point on the body and mechanical or electrical stimulation is delivered, various neural and neuroactive components are activated. The collection of the activated neural and neuroactive components distributed in the skin, muscle, and connective tissues surrounding the inserted needle is defined as a neural acupuncture unit (NAU). The traditionally defined acupoints represent an anatomical landmark system that indicates local sites where NAUs may contain relatively dense and concentrated neural and neuroactive components, upon which acupuncture stimulation would elicit a more efficient therapeutic response. The NAU-based local mechanisms of biochemical and biophysical reactions play an important role in acupuncture-induced analgesia. Different properties of NAUs are associated with different components of needling sensation. There exist several central pathways to convey NAU-induced acupuncture signals, Electroacupuncture (EA) frequency-specific neurochemical effects are related to different peripheral and central pathways transmitting afferent signals from different frequency of NAU stimulation. More widespread and intense neuroimaging responses of brain regions to acupuncture may be a consequence of more efficient NAU stimulation modes. The introduction of the conception of NAU provides a new theoretical approach to interpreting effects and mechanisms of acupuncture in modern biomedical knowledge framework.
当针刺入身体的指定穴位并施加机械或电刺激时，各种神经和神经活性成分被激活。分布在插入针周围的皮肤、肌肉和结缔组织中的激活的神经和神经活性成分的集合被定义为神经针刺单元（NAU）。传统定义的穴位代表了一种解剖学标志系统，表明在这些局部位点上，NAU 可能包含相对密集和集中的神经和神经活性成分，针刺刺激会引起更有效的治疗反应。基于 NAU 的局部生化和生物物理反应机制在针刺引起的镇痛中发挥着重要作用。不同性质的 NAU 与不同的针刺感觉成分相关。存在几种中枢通路来传递 NAU 诱导的针刺信号，电针（EA）频率特异性神经化学效应与从不同频率的 NAU 刺激传递传入信号的不同外周和中枢通路有关。针刺对大脑区域的更广泛和强烈的神经影像学反应可能是更有效的 NAU 刺激模式的结果。NAU 概念的引入为在现代生物医学知识框架中解释针刺的作用和机制提供了一种新的理论方法。
