Pan Wei-Xing
Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2019 Nov 25;44(11):843-53. doi: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.190260.
The effects of acupuncture on functional regulation of biological systems have been studied extensively. The most interesting feature of acupuncture is the bidirectional regulatory ability to restore homeostatic values of body systems from either up or down states, which was found by Chinese biomedical researchers several decades ago, and has recently been observed by peers internationally. Acupuncture can produce two physiological response patterns, an immediate short-term response or/and a long-lasting response. The bidirectional regulatory effects of acupuncture are rarely observed under physiological states (normal homeostasis), rather, they are usually observed under pathological states (abnormal homeostasis) with long-lasting response patterns. This suggests that the effects of acupuncture under pathological states are different from the mechanisms under normal physiological states. This is important for understan-ding and developing acupuncture therapy, and also gives insight into understanding the biological control process itself. The present paper reviews the experimental literature and discusses the four conditions that produce bidirectional regulation of acupuncture, i.e. the inherent properties of the target systems, the functional states of the target system, the acupoint characteristics, and the stimulation parameters. Finally, two hypotheses are proposed to explain the mechanisms of bidirectional effects of acupuncture. The possible peripheral mechanism is that acupuncture can stimulate different types of peripheral nerve fibers to produce opposite regulatory effects; and the possible central mechanisms is that acupuncture might activate the adaptive control process of the central nervous system to restore homeostatic balance.
针刺对生物系统功能调节的作用已得到广泛研究。针刺最有趣的特征是其双向调节能力，即能将身体系统的稳态值从过高或过低状态恢复至正常，这是几十年前中国生物医学研究人员发现的，最近也被国际同行观察到。针刺可产生两种生理反应模式，即即时短期反应或/和长期反应。针刺的双向调节作用在生理状态（正常稳态）下很少观察到，相反，它们通常在病理状态（异常稳态）下以长期反应模式被观察到。这表明针刺在病理状态下的作用机制与正常生理状态下不同。这对于理解和发展针刺疗法很重要，也有助于深入了解生物控制过程本身。本文综述了实验文献，并讨论了产生针刺双向调节的四个条件，即靶系统的固有特性、靶系统的功能状态、穴位特性和刺激参数。最后，提出了两个假说来解释针刺双向作用的机制。可能的外周机制是针刺可刺激不同类型的外周神经纤维产生相反的调节作用；可能的中枢机制是针刺可能激活中枢神经系统的适应性控制过程以恢复稳态平衡。
