THE INFLUENCE OF ACUPUNCTURE ON SALIVARY FLOW-RATES IN HEALTHY-SUBJECTS

This study investigated the influence of acupuncture stimulation on th e salivary secretion of eight healthy subjects. The salivary flow of e ach subject was measured before, during and after every acupuncture se ssion. The unstimulated, chewing-stimulated and citric acid-stimulated flows were investigated, in combination with manual and electrically stimulated acupuncture. The results showed a significant increase of t he unstimulated salivary flow both during and after the manual acupunc ture stimulation as compared to baseline levels. There was no effect o n the unstimulated salivary flow with electro-acupuncture. The stimula ted salivary flow was not affected by manual acupuncture, while the el ectrically stimulated acupuncture led to a significant decrease of the chewing-stimulated salivary flow. The improvement of the unstimulated salivary secretion in healthy subjects was in accordance with our pre vious findings in xerostomic patients. It is possible that the salivar y secretion is influenced by the augmented release of neuropeptides ca used by acupuncture. Some neuropeptides have been shown to affect sali vary secretion as well as capillary blood flow.