As a traditional therapy applied for thousands of years, acupuncture has recently been attracting more and more investigators throughout the world as an alternative treatment. We proposed that acupuncture can strengthen the human body to resist diseases by puncturing needles at certain points. The character that acupuncture enhances resistance is closely related to the immune system, which functions in defense, homeostasis, and surveillance. More and more research has revealed that acupuncture can regulate immunity, for example, to enhance anticancer and antistress immune function and exert anti-inflammation effects. This may be the basis of acupuncture in preventing and treating later diseases. However, further research is urgently essential to elucidate the relation between acupuncture and immune responses, thus providing underlying mechanisms of acupuncture in treating diseases.

We invite authors to present original research papers and review papers that will stimulate the continuing efforts in defining and promoting a better understanding of acupuncture and immunity. We are particularly interested in manuscripts that report the research results of acupuncture that emphasize effects of acupuncture on immune and disease and the underlying mechanisms.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Animal and human studies of:
  • Effect of acupuncture on the immune systems in health and diseases, for example, inflammatory diseases, carcinomas, allergy, and autoimmune diseases
  • The assessments techniques of immune-regulating effect of acupuncture
  • Mechanisms by which acupuncture plays a role in immune-related diseases
  • Recent advances in acupuncture and immunity research