Effects of Acupuncture and Acupoint Bloodletting on T Cell Subsets in Patients with Eczema

OBJECTIVE To observe the differences of curative effects between acupuncture and acupoint bloodletting and western medicine and to explore the effects on T cell subsets(CD4⁺，CD8⁺，CD4⁺/CD8⁺) in patients with eczema of acupuncture and acupoint bloodletting. METHODS According to visiting sequence， 62 patients with eczema were randomly divided into acupuncture and acupoint bloodletting group(treatment group) and western medicine group(the control group). Treatment group was divided into three types in the method of dialectical classification with acupuncture and acupoint bloodletting therapy while control group taken Cetirizine Hydrochloride orally. After 6 weeks' treatment， the clinical curative effects of the two groups were observed. In addition， T cell subsets levels in the treatment group were tested before and after treatment. RESULTS The total effective rates of treatment group and control group were 83.9% and 58.1% respectively， the former being better than the latter(P<0.05). CD4⁺ level in treatment group increased after treatment(P<0.01)， CD8⁺ decreased(P<0.01) and CD4⁺ / CD8⁺ increased(P<0.01). CONCLUSION The western medicine is obviously inferior to acupuncture and acupoint bloodletting therapy which can regulate T cell subsets levels in eczema patients' blood and help recover the immune stability of human body.