Effect of Acupuncture Therapy on Plasma Antidiuretic Hormone, Melatonin and Total Antioxidant Capacity Levels in Patients with Nocturia

Abstract

Nocturia is a common symptom which causes sleeping disorders in the elderly. A number of studies have demonstrated that acupuncture may modulate a wide range of neuro endocrinological factors following stimulation of acupoints. We aim to examine the effect of acupuncture treatment and plasma levels of ADH, melatonin hormone and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) on nocturia patients. 28 healthy women subjects (Group I) and 27 women nocturia patients (Group II) have been joined to our study. Following a total of 10 acupuncture sessions has been applied with two sessions per week, we took blood samples from the nocturia patients (Group III). Plasma antidiuretic hormone, melatonin and TAC levels were studied by Elisa method. As a result, all of the patients responded to acupuncture treatment positively. In our study, patients with nocturnal polyuria (Group II) showed significantly low plasma antidiuretic hormone and melatonin levels in comparison to the Group I(p<0.001). Although plasma melatonin levels showed an increase by 12.35% in Group III in comparison to Group II, plasma ADH levels did not change between the two groups. Thus, it was concluded that melatonin could be beneficial for nocturia via central nervous system effect. Patients with nocturnal polyuria (Group II) plasma TAC level showed a decrease when compared with the control group (Group I). However, the plasma TAC level decreased by 9.83% following the 10th session in Group III in comparison to Group II (p=0,044). Based on our results we concluded that acupuncture treatment has a regulatory effect on plasma melatonin levels in patients with nocturia and can be used in the treatment of nocturia patients.