Stem Cells, Epigenetics, etc.

Posted on August 30, 2023

My Acupuncturist Doesn’t Seem to Age like normal people? It must be their genes.  No, it’s not our genes. It is an alteration in our gene expression (epigenetics), endogenous stem cells, how we (some of us) address any slight attack on our health, and salutogenesis.

Acupuncture Releases Stem Cells?  

Mobilization of endogenous stem cells is an appealing strategy for cell therapy However, there is little evidence for reproducible, effective methods of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) mobilization. In the present study, we investigated the mobilizing effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) on endogenous MSC.

These cells could differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes and neural-like cells in vitro. Finally, stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) was increased in the PB of rats subjected to EA, and the migration of MSCs was improved in response to SDF-1α.

Conclusions: MSCs with multi-lineage differentiation potential can be mobilized by EA. Our data provide a promising strategy for MSC mobilization².

1. Osteoblasts: Osteoblasts are cells involved in the formation and mineralization of bone. Differentiating into osteoblasts means that the cells can transform into bone-forming cells.
2. Chondrocytes: Chondrocytes are cells found in cartilage tissue and play a crucial role in maintaining cartilage health and structure. Differentiating into chondrocytes means that the cells can transform into cartilage-forming cells.
3. Neural-like cells: This term indicates that the cells have the potential to develop characteristics similar to neural (nerve) cells. Neural-like cells might exhibit certain properties or markers associated with nerve cells, although they might not be fully functional nerve cells.

Tissue regeneration disorder after endometrial injury is an important cause of intrauterine adhesions, amenorrhea, and infertility in women.  Electro-Acupuncutre promotes endometrial cell regeneration and growth factor secretion.

Acupuncture induced the proliferation and differentiation of endogenous neural stem cells (NSCs) promoting neural repair.

Acupuncture Alters Gene Expression?

Acupuncture and EA result in significant changes in the expression of genes implicated as markers for neural stem cells, neural cell development, and neurons. Acupuncture showed a significant increase in the mRNA expression levels of multiple neuronal genes in the skin.