Various reports concerning the analgesic mechanism of acupuncture first from China and then from other countries have appeared. A summary of these gives us the following.
1. From the Nerve Transmission Substance Aspect
The following can be said about how acupuncture alters the amount of nerve transmission substance (NT) in the nerve centers or the ways in which the amount of central NT influences the acupuncture analgesic effect.
Serotonin, acetylcholine and OLS can be included among substance an increase in acupuncture effects or which are perhaps increased through acupuncture and oppositely, norepinephrine, dopamine and naloxone gifen as examples of substances working in opposition to acupuncture effects. It can be said then that the acupuncture effect is related with all of these substances but principally with se rotonin and OLS among them.
It has already been proven that acupuncture effects an increase in OLS. This effect is opposed by naloxone. As with morphine, in the analgesic effect of OLS the descendant suppression to the spinal neurons from the brain is great. The acupuncture effect is weakened by dissection at T₁ on the spine or dorsalateral tract.
2. From the Electrophysiological Aspect
It can be stated that the reception of pain is transmitted centrally by the Pf and Cl nuclei of the thalmus and spinally by the 5th layer neurons of the dorsal horn. Infringing stimulation increases actifity of these neurons while acupuncture stimulation or electrical stimulation of the CM nucleus, caudate nucleus or midbrain raphe (nucleus) restrict such activity.
On one hand acupuncture stimulation effects an increase in individual electrical discharge of the neurons of the CM, caudate and raphe nuclei. The relationship between acupuncture and PAG is in the same. With the exception of the CM nucleaus, electrical stimulatio nof these nuclei serves to increase OLS and at times serotonin and acetylcholine concentrations. Moreover these eqects are opposed by naloxone. In other words acupuncture stimulation and the stimulation of these nuclei inhibit the ignition of spinal dorsal horn 5th layers neurons against infringing stimulation.
It can be said that the analgesic mechanism of acupuncture when it is administered in the area of pain is one explained by the gate control theory as an increase in the strength of the inhibitory system through acupuncture.

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It was often observed that information concerning visceral disease was presented to the somatic area, through referred pain, hypersensitive band, or other viscero-sensory and viscero-motor reflexes
Reflexological correlation between the viscera and skin have involved many problems since ancient times.
Our laboratory studied the innervation in the ventral wall of the stomach and M, gastrocunemius of the cat.
The cats weighing 1.8kg-2.7kg received injections of about 300mg horseradish peroxidase (HRP, M. W. 40.000) dissolved 600μl 0.9% NaCl-solution at the ventral wall of the stomach and left M, gastrocumenius.
The animals were perfused transcardially at 48hr after injection.
Then, in the stomach experiment, spinal, sympathetic, nodosal an celiac ganglia were removed, and in the muscle experiment, spinal and sympathetic ganglia were removed.
They were kept in a fixative for 4hr and then washed for 12hr. All ganglia were serial sectioned (30μm thick) on cryostats and incubated.
The histological procedures were according to Graham & Karnovsky, Malmgren & Olsson.
In the case of the stomach, HRP-positive cells were distributed to the left and right side of spinal and sympathetic ganglia. The distributed level in spinal ganglia was between Th2-L3, while the sympathetic ganglia was between Th6-L3.
In addition, nodosal and celiac ganglia have many positive cells.
In the case of the left M, gastrtocunemius, HRP-positive cells are investigated superior to the injection side in the spinal and sympathetic ganglia.
HRP method is effective for the study of acupuncture mechanism and similarly useful in clinical and neurophysiological study.

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I concluded my study of the influences of paraneural acupuncture on the various types of neuralgia with an examination of intercostal neuralgia.
I had known from previous experience that in acupuncture therapy for intercostal neuralgia pressure points become the objects of treatment. In these experiments I expanded previous methods to include paraneural acupuncture methods involving insertion to a depth of 4cm. at spinal points, points at which it could be assumed pressure was being exerted on the nerve roots through muscle tension.
Results in 102 cases showed that in 93 cases (91%) symptoms disappeared completely after an average of 4.5 treatments. In 6 other cases also symptoms were relieved in a relatively short time. The number of teratments required was fewer in cases in which the history of the condition was short. These cases included 38 cases of herpes zoster. In 5 of these cases pain vanished immediately and was significantly alleviated in one case. Moreover comparison of results in these experiments with previous results indicated a 38% reduction in the number of treatments required. It was determined that these results were due to the effects of the newly added paraneural acupuncture.

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