Effect of Wei’s triple nine needling therapy on flash visual evoked potentials in rats with traumatic optic neuropathy

Objective:To investigate the effect of Wei’s triple nine needling therapy on the N2-P2 wave of the flash visual evoked potential(FVEP)in rats of the of the transverse directional pulling model.Methods:Thirty-six Wistar rats were randomly grouped,nine were in normal control group without any treatment,and the remaining 27 were surgically modelled in the right eyes.Eighteen of these rats were randomly divided into a Wei’s triple nine needling therapy group and a model group of nine rats each after the TON model was made using the transverse quantitative retraction method.The other 9 rats were sham-operated,and only the optic nerve was exposed without retraction.On the next day of modelling,the Wei’s triple nine needling therapy group was treated with Wei’s triple nine needling therapy for 20 minutes/1 time/1 day for 14 days.The model group,sham-operated group and normal control group were not intervened.Wei's triple nine acupoints were represented as follows:1st link:"Jingming"(BL1)and"Chengqi"(ST1);2nd link:"Sizhukong"(SJ23)penetrating"Taiyang"(EX-HN5);and the third:"Fengchi"(GB 20)and"Taichong"(LV3).The FVEP of each group was observed on 1d,7d and 14d.The FVEP of each group was observed on 1d,7d and 14d.Results:Compared with the model group,the N2 wave latency and P2 wave latency were shortened in the Wei’s triple nine needling therapy on 1d(P<0.05,P<0.01);on 7d,their N2 wave latency was shortened(P<0.01)and the N2-P2 wave amplitude was increased compared with the model group(P<0.05);on 14d,their P2 wave latency was shortened(P<0.05)and the N2-P2 wave amplitude was increased.There was no statistical difference in N2 wave latency,P2 wave latency and N2-P2 wave amplitude in the sham-operated group on 1d,7d and 14d(P>0.05).The delayed N2 and P2 wave latencies in the model group did not improve from 1d to 14d(P>0.05)and the amplitude decreased throughout,showing a significant difference on 14d compared to 1d(P<0.05).In contrast,the N2 wave latency in Wei’s triple nine needling therapy group was not significantly different until 7d to 14d(P<0.05);its P2 wave latency,although significantly delayed from 1d to 7d(P<0.05),recovered on 14d and reached a level that was not statistically different from 1d and 7d(P>0.05).There was also no significant decrease in N2-P2 wave amplitude between 1d and 14d in Wei’s triple nine needling therapy group(P>0.05).Conclusion:In this experiment,the TON rat model was successfully established by the transverse quantitative retraction method,and the treatment of TON rats with Wei’s triple nine needling therapy reduced the P2 wave delay of the FVEP electrophysiological signal and increased the N2-P2 amplitude,which had a certain positive effect on the repair of optic nerve injury,probably related to its effect of improving the conduction function of the optic nerve and protecting the retinal ganglion cells that had not been degenerated and necrosed.

Effect of intradermal needle at five-zang Back-Shu points on treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome

Objective:To observe the effect of intradermal needle therapy on back-shu points of five zang organs in treating chronic fatigue syndrome(CFS)and provide evidence for the usage of unilateral back-shu point.Methods:Patients were randomly divided into bilateral back-shu point group,unilateral back-shu point group and non-acupoint group,remove shedding cases,each group remaining 30 patients.In bilateral back-shu point group,both sides of back-shu points of five zang organs were selected.In unilateral back-shu point group,only one side was selected,left or right alternately.The location where non-acupoint group inserted by intradermal needles were outward from the back-shu points,left or right alternately.Fatigue Scale-14(FS-14)was used to evaluate the fatigue level and the scores’improvement of physical fatigue and mental fatigue revealed the therapeutic effect on body constituents and spirits of CFS patient.Results:After the 8-week intradermal needle therapy,the total effective rate was 83.33%in the bilateral back-shu point group,which was 76.67%in the unilateral back-shu point group and 50.00%in the non-acupoint group.The curative effects of the two groups whose back-shu points of five zang organs were inserted by intradermal needles were better than the non-acupoint group(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in clinical efficacy between the bilateral back-shu point group and the unilateral back-shu point group(P>0.05).There were statistical differences in FS-14 questionnaires including total,physical and mental scores between before and after the treatment in both the two back-shu point groups(P<0.05).Only the scores of total and physical fatigue in decreased in non-acupoint group(P<0.05),which means it couldn’t help to alleviate mental fatigue statistically(P>0.05).Conclusions:(1)The intradermal needle therapy on back-shu points of five zang organs for CFS has a satisfying clinical efficacy in curing tiredness.It can help to reduce both physical and mental fatigue for the patients.Hence,it can regulate both body constituents and spirits simultaneously.(2)Needling the unilateral acupoints can get similar clinical efficacy to the bilateral points.It reveals that we can cut cost by reducing the consumption of the amount of intradermal needles used on one side.(3)Both the groups of back-shu points get better clinical efficacy than the non-acupoint group dramatically.The reason of why the intradermal needle can treat CFS maybe that back-shu points of five zang organs can regulate the functions of five zang organs characteristically.