ArticleScientific reports2017
Acupuncture points can be identified as cutaneous neurogenic inflammatory spots.
Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Acupoint Sensitivity in Health and Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Skin Temperature of Acupoints in Health and Disease: A Systematic Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of neurogenic acupoint cupping on high sensitive C-reactive protein and pain perception in female chronic pelvic pain: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of musculoskeletal & neuronal interactions · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Physiological impact of nanoporous acupuncture needles: Laser Doppler perfusion imaging in healthy volunteers.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Attenuation of hypertension by C-fiber stimulation of the human median nerve and the concept-based novel device.Scientific reports · 2018Trial
- Face acupoint recognition and localization based on geometric topological relationships.Journal of traditional Chinese medicine = Chung i tsa chih ying wen pan · 2026Article
- CHRNA3⁺ nociceptors prime the cutaneous sensory interface to enhance electroacupuncture analgesia.Chinese medicine · 2026Article
- Inside-Out Mechanism of Referred Visceral Pain: Protocol for a Systematic Review of Cutaneous Neurogenic Inflammation in Preclinical Animal Models of Visceral Diseases.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Electroacupuncture of Guanyuan (CV4) Acupoint Improved Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Pain by Inhibiting Neuroinflammation and Sympathetic Activity.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture attenuates intestinal epithelial ferroptosis in inflammatory bowel disease via Piezo1-mediated mitochondrial homeostasis.Chinese medicine · 2025Article
- Naming the unseen: Rethinking the ontology of acupoints.Integrative medicine research · 2025Article
- Acupoints in Acupuncture Research: Past, Present, and Future.Medical acupuncture · 2025Article
- Electroacupuncture exerts antipruritic and anti-inflammatory effects on atopic dermatitis by activating CB2 receptor.Chinese medicine · 2025Article
- Analysis of key pathways and genes in nodal structure on rat skin surface using gene ontology and KEGG pathway.Genes & genomics · 2025Article
- Case Report: Electroacupuncture combined with transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation for treating antiseizure medication-resistant juvenile myoclonic epilepsy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Article
- Efficacy of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation on Modulating Upper Extremity Sympathetic Skin Response in Alleviating Cancer Survivors With Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy: A Propensity Score-Matched Cohort Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- The Anatomical and Physiological Knowledge of theMedical acupuncture · 2024Review
- Exploratory Study of Biomechanical Properties and Pain Sensitivity at Back-Shu Points.Brain sciences · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Acupuncture, a traditional medical procedure practised for over 2000 years in Asia, stimulates specific but poorly defined sites called acupoints. To date, no unique anatomical acupoint structures have been found. However, noxious sensory signals from visceral organs produce hypersensitive spots on the skin (neurogenic spots), caused by cutaneous neurogenic inflammation, in the dermatome that overlaps with visceral afferent innervations. Here, we show that an acupoint is one form of neurogenic inflammation on the skin. Various studies have demonstrated that acupoints show mechanical hypersensitivity and have high electrical conductance. Stimulation of acupoints produces needling sensations caused by the activation of small diameter afferent nerve fibres and therapeutic effects on the associated visceral organs, which is likely due to the release of endogenous opioids. The present study provides experimental evidence that neurogenic spots exhibit all the characteristics of the acupoints listed above. In addition, the stimulation of neurogenic spots by electrical, mechanical, or chemical means alleviated pathological conditions in rat colitis and hypertension models via the endogenous opioid system. Our results suggest that acupoints associated with internal organs may be identical to neurogenic inflammatory spots on the skin, which are produced by activation of somatic afferents in abnormal conditions of visceral organs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.