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eCAM Advance Access published online on August 27, 2007
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nem090
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© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Review

Analgesic Action of Acupuncture and Moxibustion: A Review of Unique Approaches in Japan

Kaoru Okada and Kenji Kawakita

Department of Physiology, Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, Hiyoshi-cho, Nantan-city, Kyoto 629-0392, Japan

The mechanism of acupuncture analgesia (AA) is one of the most widely researched topics in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) based on modern medical methodology. Endogenous opioid-mediated mechanisms of acupuncture have been well established since the 1970s. In this review, we have covered the progress of AA research by Japanese investigators. In particular, we have reviewed the physiological basis of analgesic effects induced by acupuncture and moxibustion, including the actions of endogenous opioid and diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNICs), and the afferent fibers participating in acupuncture and moxibustion stimuli are discussed.

Keywords: afferent fibers – diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC) – endogenous opioids

For reprints and all correspondence: Kaoru Okada, Department of Physiology, Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, Hiyoshi-cho, Nantan-city, Kyoto 629-0392, Japan. Tel: +81-771-72-1181 (272); Fax: +81-771-72-0326; E-mail: k_okada{at}meiji-u.ac.jp

Received July 7, 2006; accepted July 6, 2007


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