Abdominal electroacupuncture can activate sympathetic ganglia, releasing adrenaline and neuropeptide Y, with variable inflammatory effects depending on intensity.

“So what Qiufu Ma's lab found was that if electroacupuncture is provided to the abdomen, to the stomach area, it creates activation of what are called the sympathetic ganglia. These have nothing to do with sympathy in the emotional sense has to do with the stress response. Sympa just means together. So it activated a bunch of neurons along the spinal cord. And the activation of these neurons evolves neural adrenaline and something called NPY neuropeptide Y. The long and short of it is that stimulating the abdomen with electroacupuncture was either anti-inflammatory or it could cause inflammation. It could actually exacerbate inflammation depending on whether or not it was of low or high intensity.”