Repetitive Manual Acupuncture Increases Markers of Innate Immunity in Mice Subjected to Restraint Stress

Objective To study the effects of repetitive manual acupuncture treatment on acute stress in mice and to explore its impact on the immune system. Methods Thirty-six mice were randomly allocated to one of four groups: control, acupuncture, stress and acupuncture+stress (n=9 each). Mice in the two acupuncture groups were given daily acupuncture treatment superficially (to skin depth) at CV6, CV12 and bilateral ST25, LR14, GB20, GB21, BL10, BL11, BL13, BL14, BL19, BL23 and BL25 for 7 days. On the eighth day mice in the stress and acupuncture+stress groups were exposed to acute stress for 2 h by confinement in a 50 mL centrifuge tube. Body temperature, blood glucose, the number and subpopulation ratios of leucocytes in the liver, spleen and thymus, natural killer (NK) cell percentage cytotoxicity and serum corticosterone and interferon gamma IFNγ were quantified. Results Mice exposed to stress (irrespective of acupuncture treatment) exhibited hypothermia and hyperglycaemia. However, the increase in glucose level was mitigated by repetitive acupuncture treatment (p<0.05). Percentage cytotoxicity and the level of corticosterone were significantly increased after stress but were unaffected by acupuncture. IFNγ levels did not differ between the groups. Hepatic innate immunity in the liver appeared to be stimulated by repetitive acupuncture treatment as proportions of extrathymic T cells, NK cells and NKT cells in the liver were greatest in the acupuncture+stress group and significantly increased relative to the control group. Conclusions Repetitive manual acupuncture mitigated stress-induced hyperglycaemia and enhanced markers of innate immunity in the liver within the range of normal homoeostasis. As long as acupuncture stimuli were appropriately applied, they did not appear to be stressful to the mice.

Do thymically and strictly extrathymically developing T cells generate similar immune responses?

If present in sufficient numbers, could extrathymic T cells substitute for thymus-derived T cells? To address this issue, we studied extrathymic T cells that develop in athymic mice under the influence of oncostatin M (OM). In this model, extensive T-cell development is probably due to amplification of a minor pathway of T-cell differentiation taking place only in the lymph nodes. Extrathymic CD4 T cells expanded poorly and were deficient in providing B-cell help after infection with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). Compared with classic T cells, stimulated extrathymic CD8 T cells produced copious amounts of interferon γ (IFN-γ), and their expansion was precocious but of limited amplitude because of a high apoptosis rate. Consequently, although extrathymic cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) responded to LCMV infection, as evidenced by the expansion of GP33-41 tetramer-positive CD8 T cells, they were unable to eradicate the virus. Our data indicate that the site of development impinges on T-cell quality and function and that extrathymic T cells functionally cannot substitute for classical thymic T cells. (Blood. 2004;103:3102-3110)