ArticleEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2013
ATP release from mast cells by physical stimulation: a putative early step in activation of acupuncture points.
Article in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Laser acupuncture in the treatment of neuropathies in dentistry: a systematic review.Lasers in medical science · 2023Pooled it
- Laser acupuncture versus reflexology therapy in elderly with rheumatoid arthritis.Lasers in medical science · 2017Trial
- Revolutionizing the understanding of acupoint biology and acupuncture mechanisms through spatial omics: current perspectives and future directions.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Stimulation of High-Conductivity Points in Human Skin Reduces Biotin Levels to Modulate Intracellular Metabolism and Local Energy Production.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Keratinocyte Piezo1 and CD39 initiated the acupuncture analgesic signals via Co-regulating extracellular ATP mobilization at acupoints.Journal of traditional and complementary medicine · 2025Article
- Acupuncture and moxibustion intervention in functional dyspepsia: Gastric and duodenal regulation.Heliyon · 2024Review
- The involvement of transient receptor potential channels in mast cell activation by microbubbles.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2023Article
- The real-time detection of acupuncture-induced extracellular ATP mobilization in acupoints and exploration of its role in acupuncture analgesia.Purinergic signalling · 2023Article
- Role of ATP in migraine mechanisms: focus on P2X3 receptors.The journal of headache and pain · 2023Review
- The immunomodulatory mechanisms for acupuncture practice.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Article
- Review
- The Alleviating Effect ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Mechanosensitive TRPV4 Channel-Induced Extracellular ATP Accumulation at the Acupoint Mediates Acupuncture Analgesia of Ankle Arthritis in Rats.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Needling Interventions for Sciatica: Choosing Methods Based on Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Peripheral ERK modulates acupuncture-induced brain neural activity and its functional connectivity.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Mast Cell Degranulation and Adenosine Release:Acupoint Specificity for Effect of Electroacupuncture on Pituitrin-Induced Acute Heart Bradycardia in Rabbits.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2020Article
- Modeling a Nociceptive Neuro-Immune Synapse Activated by ATP and 5-HT in Meninges: Novel Clues on Transduction of Chemical Signals Into Persistent or Rhythmic Neuronal Firing.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2020Article
- Protective Effects of Hydrogen Sulfide Against the ATP-Induced Meningeal Nociception.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2020Article
- The effects of laser diode treatment on liver dysfunction ofJournal of advanced veterinary and animal research · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In Chinese medicine acupuncture points are treated by physical stimuli to counteract various diseases. These stimuli include mechanical stress as applied during the needle manipulation or tuina, high temperatures as applied during moxibustion, and red laser light applied during laser acupuncture. This study aimed to investigate cellular responses to stimuli that might occur in the tissue of acupuncture points. Since they have a characteristically high density of mast cells that degranulate in response to acupuncture, we asked whether these processes lead to ATP release. We tested in in vitro experiments on mast cells of the human mast-cell line HMC-1 the effects of the physical stimuli; mechanical stress was applied by superfusion of the cells with hypotonic solution, heat was applied by incubation of the cells at 52°C, and red laser light of 657 nm was used for irradiation. We demonstrate that all the stimuli induce ATP release from model human mast HMC-1 cells, and this release is associated with an intracellular free Ca(2+) rise. We hypothesize that ATP released from mast cells supplements the already known release of ATP from keratinocytes and, by acting on P2X receptors, it may serve as initial mediator of acupuncture-induced analgesia.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.