Acupuncture therapy has a positive role in the prevention and treatment of some related diseases by regulating autonomic nervous function. But it has been found in experimental researches that the modulatory effects of acupuncture on autonomic nervous system are not always consistent with each other. Because in the animal studies on the mechanism of acupuncture intervention, the anesthetic agent has to be used and definitely affects the activities of the autonomic nervous system while playing its pharmacological effects. Hence, it is very significant to explore the rational application of anesthetic agents and minimize their unfavorable impacts on the research outcomes. In the present paper, we make a retrospective analysis on (1) the effect of acupuncture intervention on activities of the autonomic nerve in animal models of myocardial ischemia, gastrointestinal mobility, and urinary system; (2) the effect of anesthetics as isoflurane, urethane, pentobarbital sodium, ketamine, α-chloralose, propofolum, etc. on activities of the autonomic nerve system. In terms of different anesthetic modes and various depths of anesthesia by using isoflurane inhalation, mixed solution of urethane and chloralose, etc., some approaches for assessing the state of anesthesia in accordance with the pupillary reflex, righting reflex, footboard reflex, swallowing reflex, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, respiration frequency, ventilation volume, oxygen saturation, partial pressure of carbon dioxide, neuromuscular blo-ckade, etc. in combination with the indexes directly and indirectly reflecting functions of the sympathetic and vagus nerves are proposed to analyze the impact of different anesthetic states on the therapeutic effect of acupuncture in various models of dysfunction of the autonomic nerve system. Under the circumstances, it is possible to provide a reference for rational use of anesthetic agents and dosages in the acupuncture research of autonomic nerve regulation.
Keywords: Acupuncture; Anesthesia; Autonomic nervous system.