Effect of Acupuncture on lmmunomodulationin Patients wilh Malignant Tumors

In order to investigate the role of acupuncture in the regulation of cellular immune function,the changes of T Iymphocytes subsets (CD3+ , CD4+ , CD8+ ) . soluble interleukin-2 receptor (SIL-2R ) and beta-efidorphine (-EP) in the peripheral blood of patients with malignant tumors before and after acupuncturewere observed with the double blind method. Forty patients were divided randomly into two groups, 20 foreach. One group was treated with acupuncture and the other one used for control. Results showed thatacupuncture has the effect of enhancing the cellular immunity of patients with malignant tumors. Acupuncturetreatment could increase the percentage of T lymphocyte subsets CD3+ , CD4+ and the ratio CD4+ /CD8+ ( P 0 .ol ) , increase the level of -EP, as well as decrease the level ot SIL-2R ( P 0 . 01 ) . The correlation analysisof three criteria showed there was a positive correlation between -EP and T lymphocyte subsets and a nega-tive correlation between PEP and SIL-2R ; there was also a negative correlation between T lymphocyte sub-sets and SIL-2R. Based on these results, a discussion on the acupuncture immunomodulation network wascondected in this article in order to explore the possible mechanism of acupuncture on immunomodulation.