In the present study, the effect of acupuncture stimuladon on the gastrointestinal tract was investigated in terms of the change in the number of serotonin immunoreactive cells by light microscopic immunohistochemical method. With the acupuncture stimulation, it was evaluated whether released serotonin is involved in the cellular level. Thirty minutes following the acupuncture stimulation on both ST-36 and LI-4, rats(n=30) were sacrificed by an overdose injection of pentobarbital and perfused transcardially with phosphate- buffered saline followed by parafomaldehyde in PBS. Then the tissues from stomach, duodenum, jejunum and ileum were collected for light microscopic observation. For a control group, normal rats were used while non-acupuncture point was used for comparison.
Generally in gastrointestinal tract, serotonin immunoreactive cells which are mainly enterochromaffin cells are located in mucous layer. With the acupuncture administration on ST-36, the number of serotonin immunoreactive cells were significantly increased(p < 0.05) in duodenum, jejunum and ileum but the stomach. On the other hand, LI-4 stimulation caused a significant increase(p < 0.05) in the number of serotonin immunoreactive cells in all regions of the gastrointestinal tract. When compared between two acupuncture groups, the increase of the number of serotonin immunoreactive cells was greater in LI-4 than ST-36 group mainly in duodenum and jejunum. The non-acupuncture point stimulation did not produce any conspicuous results.
In conclusion, it is assumed that acupuncture stimulation on ST-36 and LI-4 induced the enterochromaffin cellular activation of mucous layer to cause the serotonin biosynthesis.
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