Investigating the influence of acupuncture on cellular signal transduction is an efficient pathway to reveal the action mechanism of acupuncture on spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, the experiment research literature regarding acupuncture for SCI during past 10 years was reviewed and analyzed. As a result, it was found that acupuncture could regulate the expression of the first intercellular messenger as well as the second signal molecules including cyclic adenosine monophosphate, cyclic guanosine monophosphate, Ca2+, nitric oxide to intervene the apoptotic signaling pathway, Rho/Rock signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, Notch signaling pathway, etc., which could improve regeneration and repair of SCI. In conclusion, in future researches more attention should be paid to the cellular signal transduction networks and different effects among various acupoint combinations and acupuncture modalities on cellular signal transduction, which have an essential role for revelation of clinical application rules and optimization of clinical treatment protocol.
Keywords: acupuncture; cellular signal transduction; effect mechanism; spinal cord injury (SCI).