In an effort to contribute to the understanding of acupuncture therapy, using the serum cortisol level as an index we examined the responses of the dog's body to acupoint stimulation through intermittent measurement of changes in serum cortisol levels.
The experimental animals used were 5 adult beagles bred in similar environements. The areas of needle stimulation-ST-36, BL-23, throat point and various non-acupoint areas on the thigh were selected and experiments conducted 5 times at each point. The dogs were secured in place and after needle insertion, 30 minutes of electrical stimulation at 30Hz, double electrode pulse wave at 5Vp-p was administered. Blood was withdrawn before electrical stimulation, directly after stimulation, 1 hour after, 2 hours after and at 2 hour intervals for 8 hours. Also in a similar manner blood was withdrawn from those simply secured in place. The serum cortisol levels were measured through radioimmunoassay methods revealing the following results.
1) The serum cortisol levels increased most directly following electrical current and then dropped quickly and returned to original levels 2 hours after stimulation. After this there were slight variations however no remarkable changes from pre-treatment levels were observed.
2) The serum cortisol levels increased most with stimulation at the throat point followed by ST-36, the non-acupoint area, secured in place, and BL-23 in that order.
3) From the period directly after stimulation to 1 hour after, the levels after throat point stimulation showed tendencies to increase in comparison with secured in place, the non-acupoint area and BL-23 stimulation.
4) Stimulation at BL-23, opposite to that at all other points, resulted immediately following electrical current in levels lower than secured in place.
As explained above in this experiment the changes in the serum cortisol levels differed depending on the point of stimulation, however in every case the changes were temporary and recovery quick.