Short Time Effect of Caffeine on Heart Rate Variability and the Effect of Acupuncture at
Neiguan (PC6): A Randomized Double Blind Pilot Study

Jeong, Hyeon-suk; Yang, Chang-sop; Nam, Ji-sung; Jang, In-soo; Kim, Lak-hyung; Seo, Eui-seok

The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine > Volume 29(3); 2008 > Article

Original Article

The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine 2008;29(3): 778-786.

카페인이 HRV에 미치는 영향과 내관 자침의 효과에 대한 예비연구 : 무작위 이중맹검시험

정현숙¹, 양창섭¹, 남지성¹, 장인수¹, 김락형², 서의석¹

¹우석대학교 한의과대학 한방내과
²우석대학교 한의과대학 한방신경정신과

Short Time Effect of Caffeine on Heart Rate Variability and the Effect of Acupuncture at Neiguan (PC6): A Randomized Double Blind Pilot Study

Hyeon-suk Jeong¹, Chang-sop Yang¹, Ji-sung Nam¹, In-soo Jang¹, Lak-hyung Kim², Eui-seok Seo¹

¹Department of Internal Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Woosuk University
²Department of Oriental Neuropsychiatry, College of Korean Medicine, Woosuk University

Correspondence

Lak-hyung Kim ,Tel: 063-220-8617, Fax: 063-227-6234, Email: kimlak@hanmail.net

Published online: September 30, 2008.

ABSTRACT

Objectives:
This study was to investigate the short time effect of caffeine on heart rate variability(HRV) and the effect of Neiguan(PC6) acupuncture stimulation on HRV.

Methods :
27 healthy adult volunteers were randomly allocated to two groups: Neiguan group (N=13) or placebo group (N=14). The study was carried out under a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled trial method. Each group orally received the same tablets with 200 mg caffeine. After 1 hour, acupuncture was applied to the Neiguan(PC6) points for the Neiguan group, and for the placebo group was applied to a non-acupuncture point. Both groups were estimated with HRV 3 times, before and after caffeine ingestion, 20 minutes after acupuncture stimulation.

Results:
After taking caffeine, pulse rate, mean-HRV, and pNN50(the proportion derived by dividing NN50 by the total number of NN intervals) decreased, SDNN(standard deviation of all normal-to-normal (NN) intervals), RMSSD(the root square of successive differences), TP log, HF(high frequency), and HRV index was increased. There were significant changes to the autonomic nervous system after taking caffeine. There were no significant differences between the two groups after acupuncture at Neiguan.

Conclusion:
Caffeine could induce general activation of the autonomic nervous system. Neiguan acupuncture stimulation may not have significant influence on the autonomic nervous system.

Key words: Caffeine, Heart Rate Variability, Neiguan (PC6), Acupuncture, Autonomic nervous system