A New Perspective of Acupuncture: The Interaction among Three Networks Leads to Neutralization

Table 1

Major mediators involved in the modulation of “Acupoint Network”.

Mediators	Cells releasing neuroactive mediators	Receptors on afferent fiber terminals	Reference
5-Hydroxytryptamine	Platelets, mast cells	5-HT3 receptor	[10]
		5-HT1 receptor
adenosine	Mast cells	A1 receptor	[8]
histamine	Mast cells	H3 receptor	[11]
		H1 receptor
substance P	Keratinocytes, platelets,	-	[12]
	mast cells, fibroblasts,; and macrophages
dopamine		DA2R	[9]
Calcitonin	Macrophages,	-	[31]
gene-related peptide (CGRP)	T cells, epithelial cells
Glutamate	Skin epithelial cells and macrophage	-	[36]
ATP/cGMP	Epidermal cells, Mast cells	P2X, P2Y receptor	[20]
IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α		-	[37]
Glucocorticoids (GC)	tissues	glucocorticoid receptor (GR)	[36, 38]
Growth hormone (GH)	Eosinophils of; anterior pituitary	GH receptor	[36, 38]
Noradrenaline (NA)	sympathetic nerve varicosities	α2 Receptors	[27]
Nitric Oxide (NO)	tissues	-	[28]
Bradykinin	tissues	B1/2 receptors	[39]
Somatostatin (SS)	Merkel cells, keratinocytes	SS receptors	[40]
γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)	Macrophages and lymphocytes	receptors	[41]
β-endorphin	Keratinocytes, melanocytes, dermal fibroblasts, leukocytes	μ-opiate receptors	[29, 30]
CRH	hypothalamus	CRH receptor	[42, 43]
ERK1/2	fibroblast and keratinocyte	-	[33]