Abstract
This study examines the clinical and immunomodulatory effects of acupuncture in the treatment of patients with allergic asthma. The acupuncture points GV14, BL12, and BL13 were selected based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine in treating asthma. Manual acupuncture was performed once every other day (three times per week) for 5 weeks. The needles were twisted approximately 360° evenly at the rate of 60 times/min for 20 s, manipulated every 10 min and withdrawn after 30 min. Concentrations of sIgA and total IgA in secretions were determined by the combination of sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and RIA. Levels of cortisol in the plasma were measured by RIA. Total IgE in the sera was examined by ELISA. Flow cytometry was used to detect the numbers of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, and IL-2R + T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood. The absolute and differential numbers of eosinophils in peripheral blood were counted with eosin staining. The total efficacy of the acupuncture treatment in patients with allergic asthma at the end of one course of treatment was 85 %. After treatment, the concentrations of sIgA and total IgA in the saliva (P < 0.01, P < 0.02) and nasal secretions (P < 0.02, P < 0.02) were significantly decreased in patients with allergic asthma. The levels of total IgE in sera (P < 0.001), the counts of IL-2R + T lymphocytes (P < 0.001), and the absolute and differential numbers of eosinophils (P < 0.01, P < 0.01) in the peripheral blood were also significantly decreased. The numbers of CD3+, CD4+, and CD8+ T lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were significantly increased in the allergic asthmatics treated by acupuncture (P < 0.001, P < 0.01, and P < 0.001, respectively). The concentration of cortisol in the plasma of asthmatic patients did not change significantly after the acupuncture treatment (P > 0.05). Acupuncture has regulatory effects on mucosal and cellular immunity in patients with allergic asthma and may be an adjunctive therapy for allergic asthma.
Similar content being viewed by others
Reference
Brandtzaeg P, Baekkevold ES, Farstad IN, JahnsenFL JFE, Nilsen EM, Yamanaka T (1999) Regional specialization in the mucosal immune system: what happens in the microcompartments? Immunol Today 20(3):141–151
Holmgren J, Czerkinsky C (2005) Mucosal immunity and vaccines. Nat Med 11(4 Suppl):S45–S53
McGhee JR, Mestecky J, Dertzbaugh MT, Eldridge JH, Hirasawa M, Kiyono H (1992) The mucosal immune system: from fundamental concepts to vaccine development. Vaccine 10(2):75–88
Kaufman HS, Hobbs JR (1970) Immunoglobulin deficiencies in an atopic population. Lancet 2(7682):1061–1063
Grove DI, Burston TO, Wellby ML, Ford RM, Forbes IJ (1975) Humoral and cellular immunity in asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 55(3):152–163
Dolovich J, Zimmerman B, Hargreave FE (1983). Allergy in asthma. In: Asthma, 2nd ed. Clark TJH, Godfrey S (eds). Chapman and Hall Ltd, London, p 136
Baker J, Hong R, Dick E, Reed C (1976) Asthma, IgA deficiency, and respiratory infections. J Allergy Clin Immunol 58(6):713–721
Ehtessabian R, Cassidy JT, Thomas R, Mathews KP, Tubergen DG (1976) Clinical conference: common variable immunodeficiency with pernicious anemia, asthma, and reactions to gamma globulin; treatment with plasma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 58(2):336–350
Geller-Bernstein C, Kahane P, Weisglass L, Lahav M (1976) Serum immunoglobulins in children with asthma associated with severe respiratory tract infections. Ann Allergy 37(2):126–132
Newcomb RW, DeVald B (1969) Protein concentrations in sputa from asthmatic children. Albumin, lactoferrin, gamma A and gamma G. J Lab Clin Med 73(5):734–743
Dennis EG, Hornbrook MM, Ishizaka K (1964) Serum proteins in sputum of patients with asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 35:464–471
Siegler DI, Citron KM (1974) Serum and parotid salivary IgA in chronic bronchitis and asthma. Thorax 29(3):313–316
Hobday JD, Cake M, Turner KJ (1971) A comparison of the immunoglobulins IgA, IgG and IgE in nasal secretions from normal and asthmatic children. Clin Exp Immunol 9(5):577–583
Sole D, Zaha MM, Leser PG, Naspitz CK (1988) Secretory IgA levels in normal and atopic individuals. Influence of breast and/or bottle feeding. Allergol Immunopath (Madr) 16(6):385–392
Deuschl H, Johansson SG (1974) Immunoglobulins in tracheo-bronchial secretion with special reference to IgE. Clin Exp Immunol 16(3):401–412
Michel FB, Guendon R, d'Hinterland LD, Pinel AM, Preault M (1975) Role of serum and secretory IgA deficiency in chronic respiratory disorders. A proposal 21 cases. Nouv Presse Med 4(5):327–331
Kitani S, Ito K, Miyamoto T (1985) IgG, IgA, and IgM antibodies to mite in sera and sputa from asthmatic patients. Ann Allergy 55(4):612–620
Gerber MA, Paronetto F, Kochwa S (1971) Immunohistochemical localization of IgE in asthmatic lungs. Am J Pathol 62(3):339–352
McCarter JH, Vazquez JJ (1966) The bronchial basement membrane in asthma. Arch Pathol 82(4):328–335
Lichtenstein LM, Holtzman NA, Burnett LS (1968) A quantitative in vitro study of the chromatographic distribution and immunoglobulin characteristics of human blocking antibody. J Immunol 101(2):317–324
Platts-Mills TA, von Maur RK, Ishizaka K, Norman PS, Lichtenstein LM (1976) IgA and IgG anti-ragweed antibodies in nasal secretions. Quantitative measurements of antibodies and correlation with inhibition of histamine release. J Clin Invest 57(4):1041–1050
Krasteva A, Perenovska P, Ivanova A, Altankova I, Bocheva T, Kisselova A (2010) Alteration in salivary components of children with allergic asthma. Biotechnol Biotechnol Eq 24(2):1866–1869
Inada N, Shoji J, Hoshino M, Sawa M (2007) Evaluation of total and allergen-specific secretory IgA in tears of allergic conjunctival disease patients. Jpn J Ophthalmol 51(5):338–342
Sandin A, Bjorksten B, Bottcher MF, Englund E, Jenmalm MC, Braback L (2011) High salivary secretory IgA antibody levels are associated with less late-onset wheezing in IgE-sensitized infants. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 22(5):477–481. doi:10.1111/j.1399-3038.2010.01106.x
World Health Organization (1979) Viewpoint on acupuncture. Switzerland, Geneva
World Health Organization (2002) Acupuncture:review and analysis of reports on controlled clinical trials. Switzerland, Geneva
Culliton BJ (1997) NIH says “yes” to acupuncture. Nat Med 3(12):1307
NIN Consensus Development Panel on Acupuncture (1998) NIH consensus conference: acupuncture. JAMA 280(17):1518–1524
Yang YQ, Jiang BB, Chen HP, Zhao CY (1991) Separation and quantitation of sIgA in saliva by sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and radioimmunoassay. Shanghai J Immunol (Chin) 11(6):371–373
Zhen XY (2002) Guiding principle of clinical research on new drugs, 1st edn. Chinese Medical Science and Technology, Peking
Shao JM, Ding YD (1985) Clinical observation on 111 cases of asthma treated by acupuncture and moxibustion. J Tradit Chin Med 5(1):23–25
Ostergaard PA, Blom M (1977) Whole salivary immunoglobulin levels in 60 healthy children: determined by a sensitive electroimmuno technique after prior carbamylation. J Clin Chem Clin Biochem 15(7):393–396
Mygind N, Frankland AW (1979) Nasal allergy, 2nd edn. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford
Wiggins J, Hill SL, Stockley RA (1984) The secretory IgA system of lung secretions in chronic obstructive bronchitis: comparison of sputum with secretions obtained during fibreoptic bronchoscopy. Thorax 39(7):517–523
Tarkowski A, Moldoveanu Z, Koopman WJ, Radl J, Haaijman JJ, Mestecky J (1991) Cellular origins of human polymeric and monomeric IgA: enumeration of single cells secreting polymeric IgA1 and IgA2 in peripheral blood, bone marrow, spleen, gingiva and synovial tissue. Clin Exp Immunol 85(2):341–348
Yang YQ, Wang RZ, Zhao CY, Chen HP, Zhai DD (1991) ELISA determination of IgA, IgG, IgM in supernatants of lymphocyte cultures of human peripheral blood. Shanghai J Immunol (Chin) 11(4):226
Jonard PP, Rambaud JC, Dive C, Vaerman JP, Galian A, Delacroix DL (1984) Secretion of immunoglobulins and plasma proteins from the jejunal mucosa. Transport rate and origin of polymeric immunoglobulin A. J Clin Invest 74(2):525–535
Yin LM, Jiang GH, Wang Y, Liu YY, Jin WR, Xu YD, Zhang QH, Yang YQ (2009) Use of serial analysis of gene expression to reveal the specific regulation of gene expression profile in asthmatic rats treated by acupuncture. J Biomed Sci 16:46
Kyd JM, FoxwellAR CAW (2001) Mucosal immunity in the lung and upper airway. Vaccine 19(17–19):2527–2533
Pilette C, Durham SR, Vaerman JP, Sibille Y (2004) Mucosal immunity in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a role for immunoglobulin A? Proc Am Thorac Soc 1(2):125–135
Yang YQ, Chen HP, Zhao CY, Wang RZ (1993) Research in the mucosal SIgA immune in patients with allergic asthma. Shanghai J Immunol (Chin) 13(1):40–42
van de Graaf EA, Out TA, Kobesen A, Jansen HM (1991) Lactoferrin and secretory IgA in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with a stable asthma. Lung 169(5):275–283
Venge P (2010) The eosinophil and airway remodelling in asthma. Clin Respir J 4(Suppl 1):15–19
Abu-Ghazaleh RI, Fujisawa T, Mestecky J, Kyle RA, Gleich GJ (1989) IgA-induced eosinophil degranulation. J Immunol 142(7):2393–2400
Yang YQ, Cui LP, Chen HP, Zhang YY (1998) Antibodies induced increment of airway resistance in rats with massive pulmonary eosinophilia. Immunol J (Chin) 14(4):227–230
Czerkinsky C, Prince SJ, Michalek SM, Jackson S, Russell MW, Moldoveanu Z, McGhee JR, Mestecky J (1987) IgA antibody-producing cells in peripheral blood after antigen ingestion: evidence for a common mucosal immune system in humans. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 84(8):2449–2453
Shalaby KH, Martin JG (2010) Overview of asthma; the place of the T cell. Curr Opin Pharmacol 10(3):218–225
Coffman RL, Seymour BW, Lebman DA, Hiraki DD, Christiansen JA, Shrader B, Cherwinski HM, Savelkoul HF, Finkelman FD, Bond MW et al (1988) The role of helper T cell products in mouse B cell differentiation and isotype regulation. Immunol Rev 102:5–28
Robinson DS (2010) The role of the T cell in asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 126(6):1081–1091
Pfab F, Kircherner MT, Huss-Marp J et al (2012) Acupuncture compared with oral antihistamine for type 1 hypersentivity itch and skin response in adults with atopic dermatitis: a patient- and examiner-blinded randomized, placebo controlled, crossover trial. Allergy 67:566–573
April KT, Walji R (2011) The state of research on complementary and alternative medicine in pediatric rheumatology. Rheum Clin North Am 37:85–94
Shen FY, Lee MS, Jung SK (2011) Effectiveness of pharmacopuncture for asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. doi:10/1155/2011/678176
Choi JY, Jung HJ, Kim JI, Lee MS, Kang KW, Roh YL, Choi SM, Jung SK (2010) A randomized pilot study of acupuncture as an adjunct therapy in adult asthmatic patients. J Asthma 47:774–780
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (nos. 3910014, 30873299, 81173332), the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (09ZZ128), and the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project (S30304).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, YQ., Chen, HP., Wang, Y. et al. Considerations for Use of Acupuncture as Supplemental Therapy for Patients with Allergic Asthma. Clinic Rev Allerg Immunol 44, 254–261 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12016-012-8321-3
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12016-012-8321-3