Author(s): Yutaka Takaoka
Acupuncture, which is one type of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) have been used to cure many diseases and to maintain health, but an assessment of its efficacy is required. We have been investigating the molecular efficacy of electro acupuncture (EA), which is one type of acupuncture therapy. This short review introduces our molecular biological studies by using animal model: gene expression in mouse skeletal muscle which is regulated by EA and the therapeutic effect on muscle atrophy, identification of Aig1l gene which is induced in EA and approaches to predict the function of its protein. Our results showed that EA treatment suppresses myostatin expression, which leads to a satellite cell-related proliferative reaction, and repair in skeletal muscle and is effective for prevention of muscle atrophy. Our findings also suggest that the Aig1l gene may play a key role in the molecular mechanisms of EA efficacy.
