The mechanism of acupuncture for prostatitis

  Acupuncture can reflexly stimulate the pelvic nerve and sacral plexus nerve innervating the prostate, which can adjust the tension of the prostate and bladder smooth muscle and improve the local blood circulation of the prostate. In Wistar rats, acupuncture at the Chichibian point simulated clinical deep stabbing, and laser Doppler flowmetry was used to observe the microcirculatory status of the ventral lobe surface of the prostate in rats. It was found that acupuncture at the Chichibian point stimulated the pelvic visceral plexus and prostatic nerves distributed in the perineal region of the prostate, which could increase the local blood flow velocity and blood volume in the prostate, reaching or even exceeding the level of the normal group of animals, significantly higher than the model group.  Acupuncture can regulate bladder and urethral function by regulating neuroendocrine function, thus reducing the excitability of sympathetic and pubic nerves and inducing relaxation of pelvic floor muscles and urethral sphincter. Urodynamic measurements were performed with electroacupuncture on Huiyang and Zhongyong Yu in SD rats at 3 and 10 days after acupuncture, respectively. The results showed that electro-acupuncture of Huiyang and Zhongyong Yu could adjust the urodynamic index of the bladder of rats, reduce the higher intra-vesical pressure, improve the hypo-compliant bladder, inhibit the hyperactive bladder function, and increase the urinary flow rate. And electroacupuncture could reduce the swollen hypertrophy of bladder smooth muscle fibers, disappeared interstitial edema, enlarged prostatic alveoli, interstitial edema and congestion, and significantly reduced inflammatory cell infiltration compared with the model group, and no inflammatory cell filling was seen in the central part of the alveoli.  Immune factors are important pathogenic factors of CP, and TNF-α and IL-2 are important inflammatory mediators. The levels of TNF-α and IL-2 in the serum of Wistar rats were measured after 20 days of treatment by acupuncture at Guan Yuan, Qu Bone, and Xing Ma points. The results showed that the acupuncture group significantly reduced the levels of TNF-α and IL-2 in the serum of rats compared with the drug group. Acupuncture points such as Guan-Yuan, Qu-Bone and Xing-Zhi may exert their therapeutic effects by reducing the levels of TNF-α and IL-2 in rats through helper T cells and suppressor T cells.  The above description shows that acupuncture treatment for prostatitis mainly works by regulating nerves, immunity and endocrine.