Neuromechanism of acupuncture regulating gastrointestinal motility

Table 1 The role of acupuncture on the nuclei of the central nervous system

The nuclei	Acupoint	Function	Ref.
Brain stem
DVC	ST36, ST37	Activate neurons discharge	[123]
DVC	RN12, BL21	Increase fos expression	[126]
DVC	RN12, BL21	Motilin and gastrin	[190]
DVC	ST36	Inhibited the release of SP	[133]
DVC	ST36	Increased the expression of astrocytic and microglial	[138]
DMV	PC6	Modulate vagovagal neurocircuits	[44]
DMV	ST36	Modulate vagovagal neurocircuits	[45]
NTS and DMV	ST36, T25	Increased the number of c-Fos immunopositive cells	[150]
The cerebellum
FN	ST36, LI11, BL21, and CV12	Elevate the spontaneous discharge	[159]
MV	ST36, LI11, and BL21	Modulated the activity of GD neurons	[176]
The hypothalamus
PVN	BL23, BL18, LR14, GB25, GB24, LR13, DU14	Activate CRH-like neurons; modulate the expression of CRH and the GR	[182]
PVN	ST36 and PC6	Decreased the numbers of double-labeled OT neurons and c-fos neurons	[187]
LHA	ST36	Abolished the inhibitory reaction induced by GD	[170,199]
LHA	ST36, ST25	Modulate the levels of NA, serotonin (5-HT), and the activity of ATPases	[200]
LHA	ST36 and ST25	Alter the activity of the glucose-sensitive neurons	[201]
ARC	ST36, SP6	Increased α-MSH and POMC	[218]
ARC	SP6, ST36	Regulates the expression of neuropeptide Y and POMC neurons	[220]

DVC: Dorsal vagal complex; DMV: Dorsal motor nucleus; NTS: Solitary tract nucleus; SP: Substance P; FN: Fastigial nucleus; MV: Medial vestibular nucleus; GD: Gastric distention; PVN: Paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus; LHA: Lateral hypothalamic area; ARC: Arcuate nucleus; CRH: Corticotrophin-releasing hormone; OT: Oxytocin; GR: Glucocorticoid receptor; NA: Noradrenaline; α-MSH: The melanocyte-stimulating hormone receptor; POMC: Precursor proopiomelanocortin.