The effect of electroacupuncture on T cell responses in rats with experimental autoimmune encephalitis.

Successive electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation on Zusanli ST36 acupoints of rats with experimental autoimmune encephalitis (EAE), which is an inflammatory disease mediated by autoreactive T cells, relieved disease severity, inhibited specific T cell proliferation and rebuilt the CD4+ T cell subset balance. In addition, EA-treated rats had significantly higher ACTH concentrations in vivo compared to untreated EAE rats. These results indicated that EA stimulation could relieve the severity of EAE by restoring balance to the Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg Th cell subset responses by stimulating the hypothalamus to increase ACTH secretion.