Effects of Different Connection Modes of Electroacupuncture on Electrocardiogram and Nerve Discharge in Rats

Summary

Until now, there is no uniform method for electroacupuncture connection in clinical and fundamental research. We present a protocol that attempted to compare the effects of different connection methods on electrocardiogram (ECG) and neural discharge in rats to explore the most appropriate way to connect the electroacupuncture instrument.

Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) is one of the most commonly used methods in acupuncture and has a good effect on pain, depression, sensory movement disorders, and other diseases. The effectiveness of EA is influenced by many factors, such as the accuracy of acupoint selection, the duration and course of EA treatment, and EA parameters. However, it has rarely been discussed whether the positive and negative electrodes of the EA instrument with acupoints at different locations and distances have an effect on the curative effect. In this experiment, we observed the effects of connecting the EA instrument to acupoints at different positions and distances on ECG and vague nerve discharge in rats and preliminarily explained whether the electric field formed by different modes of EA connection has an effect on the function of the body. The connection modes of EA in this experiment included the same acupoints on both sides of the body, the same meridian or different meridian acupoints on the same side of the body, and two needles in the same acupoint area. The results showed that when the positive and negative poles were connected to the acupoints on both sides of the body, the recording of ECG and vagal nerve activity was disturbed (the same fore and hind limbs); when the acupoints were connected on the same side of the body, the smaller the distance between the two needles, the smaller the effect on ECG and vagal nerve activity recording, and the effect increased with increasing current; when the acupoints were in the same acupoint area, the recording of ECG and vagal nerve activity was not disturbed if the two needles did not form a short circuit.

Introduction

Electroacupuncture (EA) is a type of acupuncture therapy for the treatment of diseases by applying pulsed current output from an instrument to meridian points of the human body. EA has the advantages of stable and adjustable stimulation parameters, which can be quantified, timed, and labor-saving, and has special advantages in the treatment and scientific research of certain diseases, such as the study of the treatment mechanism for various neuralgia and acupuncture anesthesia, acupuncture analgesia and so on¹.

Some factors influence the effectiveness of EA, such as acupoint accuracy, treatment duration, and EA param....

Protocol

This experimental protocol was approved by the Standardized Laboratory Animal Ethics Review of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and was conducted in full accordance with the experimental protocol (Ethical review code: BUCM-2023110901-4046).

1. Animals and grouping

1. Animals
   1. Obtain 48 healthy male SPF rats (8-week old) weighing approximately 200-240 g.
      ​NOTE: For this study, the animals were provided by the Vital River Compa.......

Discussion

In this experiment, we observed the effects of the different ways of connecting the positive and negative electrodes, including the heart rate, vagal nerve activity frequency, and discharge amplitude. The results showed that when the positive and negative poles were connected to both forelimbs of the body, it affected the emission of bioelectricity. When the positive and negative poles were connected to the same side of the body, the closer the distance between the two needles, the less the effect on bioelectricity. The .......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Accupuncture Needle	Hwato	N/A
BL-420N physiological signal recorder	Techman	LAB-0017-0002-CDTM
Electroacupucture instrument	HANS	200A
Erythromycin ointment	Shuangji	N/A
Mineral oil	Solarbio	8012-95-1
Thermostatic rat plate	Techman	JR-30