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This Article Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free All Versions of this Article: 101/1/84    most recent 01593.2005v1 Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stener-Victorin, E. Articles by Kurosawa, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stener-Victorin, E. Articles by Kurosawa, M.

Ovarian blood flow responses to electroacupuncture stimulation depend on estrous cycle and on site and frequency of stimulation in anesthetized rats

¹Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, and ²Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden; and ³Department of Physiotherapy and ⁴Center for Medical Science, International University of Health and Welfare, Kitakanemaru, Otawara, Tochigi, Japan

Submitted 20 December 2005 ; accepted in final form 23 February 2006

Electroacupuncture (EA) applied to the abdomen and hindlimb modulates the ovarian blood flow (OBF) response. The present study aimed to further elucidate the role of the site and the frequency of short-term EA stimulation and the influence of the estrous cycle on the OBF response using anesthetized rats. EA stimulation was applied to the abdominal or the hindlimb muscles at three different frequencies (2, 10, and 80 Hz) during the estrus or diestrus phase. Involvement of spinal and supraspinal reflexes in OBF responses to EA stimulation was investigated by spinal cord transection. Abdominal EA stimulation at 10 Hz increased the OBF response, whereas hindlimb EA stimulation at 10 Hz and abdominal and hindlimb stimulation at 80 Hz decreased the OBF response; 2-Hz EA caused no OBF response. The OBF response to abdominal EA was more pronounced in the estrus than the diestrus phase. The OBF response to abdominal and hindlimb EA stimulation at both 10 and 80 Hz was almost abolished, both after severance of the sympathetic nerves and after spinal cord transection. In conclusion, the OBF response to both abdominal and hindlimb EA stimulation was mediated as a reflex response via the ovarian sympathetic nerves, and the response was controlled via supraspinal pathways. Furthermore, the OBF response to segmental abdominal EA stimulation was frequency dependent and amplified in the estrous phase.

sympathetic nerves; supraspinal reflexes; acupuncture; ovary

This article has been cited by other articles:

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