Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Acupuncture effects on energy metabolism in dogs with disk disease
By Sawamura, Megumi et al.·Published in Veterinary research communications·2023·East Chiba Animal Medical Center, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of acupuncture on the energy metabolism of dogs with intervertebral disk disease and cervical disk herniation: A pilot study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Thirteen dogs with intervertebral disk disease (IVDD) and three with cervical disk herniation (CVDH) received acupuncture to see if it could help their energy levels and overall condition. The acupuncture points targeted specific areas related to their conditions, and most dogs did not receive any medication during the treatment. After the acupuncture sessions, blood tests showed that the dogs had improved energy metabolism, indicated by changes in certain blood markers. This suggests that acupuncture may help these dogs feel better and improve their health by enhancing energy production.
People also search for: dog acupuncture for intervertebral disk disease · cervical disk herniation treatment for dogs · energy metabolism in dogs with IVDD
Abstract
Thirteen dogs with intervertebral disk disease (IVDD) and 3 dogs with cervical disk herniation (CVDH) were examined to determine the effects of acupuncture on energy metabolism. Acupuncture points GV14, GV20-1, BL18, BL23, BL26, GB30, and ST36 were selected for IVDD, while GV14, GV20-1, GB20, and BL23 were selected for CVDH. All dogs except no.13 did not receive medication during acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture effects were evaluated based on the IVDD/CVDH evaluation scales in Oji 2015 and Tanaka and Nakayama 2015. Blood samples were taken before and 30 min after acupuncture treatment. Pyruvate and lactate concentrations, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activity, the MDH/LDH ratio (M/L ratio), and LDH isozyme electrophoretic patterns served as energy metabolism markers. In IVDD/CVDH dogs that showed improvements, plasma pyruvate concentrations significantly decreased, the M/L ratio increased, and the plasma LDH isozyme pattern changed from predominantly LDH5 to predominantly LDH1. These data suggest that local redox potential is improved and energy metabolism is increased in dogs with IVDD/CVDH after acupuncture treatment. Acupuncture treatments may activate the citric acid cycle and increase ATP production, followed by improvement of the disease. Future studies with a large sample size are needed to clarify this hypothesis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36536227/