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Electroacupuncture most effectively elicits depressor and bradycardic responses at 1 Hz in humans

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Abstract

Purpose

Acupuncture stimulation is known to act on the autonomic nervous system and elicits depressor and bradycardic effects. However, previous studies on humans did not conduct quantitative analyses on optimal acupuncture conditions such as the stimulation frequency and duration to achieve maximum depressor and bradycardic effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of varying stimulation frequencies of electroacupuncture on time-dependent changes in blood pressure and heart rate in humans.

Methods

Twelve healthy volunteers participated in the study. An acupuncture needle was inserted at the Ximen acupoint (PC4 according to WHO nomenclature), located at the anterior aspect of the forearm. An electrical stimulation was delivered through the acupuncture needle at an intensity of 1 V, pulse width of 5 ms, and stimulation frequencies of 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 Hz in a random order. The duration of electroacupuncture was 6 min, during which blood pressure and heart rate responses were monitored.

Results

Group-averaged data indicated that 1-Hz electroacupuncture decreased blood pressure and heart rate. Blood pressure was significantly decreased from the prestimulation baseline value of 86.6 ± 2.9 to 81.4 ± 2.3 mmHg during 4–6 min of 1-Hz electroacupuncture (mean ± SE, P < 0.01). Heart rate was also significantly decreased (from 66.2 ± 2.0 to 62.7 ± 1.7 beats/min, P < 0.01).

Conclusions

These results provide fundamental evidence that bradycardiac and depressor responses are effectively produced by electrical acupuncture in humans.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 24700768) from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Health Sciences, Morinomiya University of Medical Sciences, 1-26-16 Nankokita, Suminoe, Osaka, Osaka, 559-8611, Japan

    Hidehiro Nakahara, Shin-ya Ueda, Eriko Kawai & Tadayoshi Miyamoto

  2. Department of Cardiovascular Dynamics, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, 5-7-1 Fujishirodai, Suita, Osaka, 565-8565, Japan

    Toru Kawada & Masaru Sugimachi

  3. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kinki University, 377-2 Ohno-higashi, Sayama, Osaka, 589-8511, Japan

    Hiromi Yamamoto

Authors
  1. Hidehiro Nakahara
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  2. Toru Kawada
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  3. Shin-ya Ueda
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  4. Eriko Kawai
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  5. Hiromi Yamamoto
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  6. Masaru Sugimachi
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  7. Tadayoshi Miyamoto
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Correspondence to Hidehiro Nakahara.

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Nakahara, H., Kawada, T., Ueda, Sy. et al. Electroacupuncture most effectively elicits depressor and bradycardic responses at 1 Hz in humans. Clin Auton Res 26, 59–66 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-015-0330-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-015-0330-x

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