An update on reflexo-therapy research results and possible approaches to its

mechanisms
There are three direct research studies of MTS reflexo-therapy devices and they are in
line with general data on MTS. The first is a pilot study conducted in 1995 at the
community holistic health center in North Carolina and reported to the International
Symposium on Integrative Medicine in 1999 (1). In this outpatient study, a 20" x 9"
plastic mat containing 1320 spike-like "stimulators" was tested on 126 subjects (Fig.1,
red bars - number of participants reported positive effects, blue bars - no effect), who
reported, after 30 days of using the Panacea: pain relief (98%), relaxation (96%),
improvement in the quality of sleep (94%), and an increase in perceived energy level
(81%). Recently, Swedish and German researchers reported pain relieving and proparasympathetic effects of this method (Olsson, von Scheele, 2011; Hohmann et al.,
2012).
Skin is the largest organ of the body and the first line of defense against physical and
chemical xenobiotic insults. Recent data on skin physiology and endocrinology allow to
suppose that the MTS trigger beneficial physiological and endocrinological effects. For
example, a new hypothesis based on experimental data has been recently offered, the
hypothesis of cuteneous-hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (Skobowiat et al., 2011, Fig.
5). It was shown that practically all elements of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
are expressed in skin including receptors of corticotropin-releasing hormone,
proopiomelanocortin, ACTH, beta-endorphin, and the glucocorticoid.
Manipulations with the skin, an organ closest to the environment, is a noninvasive
therapeutic approach known for at least 3 thousand years as acupuncture. Recently, it is
getting recognition as more controlled research becomes available. Since there is
evidence that acupuncture exerts both specific and non-specific effects (5-7), the nonspecific aspect of mechanism of acupuncture can be applicable to other types of skin
stimulation. For instance, there is evidence that both acupuncture and intensive skin
stimulation similar to that produced by the Applicator cause the release of endogenous
opioids exerting powerful effects on numerous physiological functions many of which
are considered adaptogenic since the effect mode depends on the initial physiological
state. Scientific literature concerning this topic is overwhelming and a review of recent
research is underway. As an example, see (8,9).
Skin stimulation of different than acupuncture kinds is reported to have beneficial health
effects (10,11) and recently, an old concept of skin projection of viscera has been revived
to explain the connection of certain areas on the skin with specific internal organs.
Initially, this concept was offered independently by Russian physician Grigori Zakharin
in 1860s and by Sir Henry Head in 1990s. They both discovered certain areas of the skin
that become tender when a disease of an internal organ develops. These areas were later
termed "Head zones" ("Zones of Zakharin-Head" in Russia). A comparison of Head's
papers with the Yellow Thearch's [Emperor] Inner Classic manual on acupuncture
revealed parallels between acupoints and points of maximal sensitivity in within
Zakharin-Head zones (12).
Last decade brought forward the idea that came from radiology, pharmacology and

toxicology, the one, which is based on the dual character of action of many substances,
drugs, and physical influences. It is observed that physical and physiological stressors,
when repeatedly applied in a weaker concentration or strength, work as specific or nonspecific protectors from the harmful impacts. We can expect with reasonable probability
that this approach can be useful in research into the mechanism of Applicator's effects.
Edward J. Calabrese is one of the pioneers in the filed and one of the post persistent
author broadening the applicability of hormesis from pharmacology and toxicology (13,
14) to neuroscience, e.g., including the areas of neuroprotection, neurite outgrowth, and
drugs for Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, anxiety, pain, seizures, stroke, as well
as in the areas of behavioral pharmacology, addictive drugs, stress biology (15). Most
directly related to our interests is hormesis research concerning stress-response pathways
(16 for review).
Importantly, there is indication that mechanical tactile stimulation can be an adequatestrength stressor eliciting beneficial hermetic and neuro-endocrinological responses and
initiating reflexes affecting visceral organs. Imitating massage in mice showed that the
stronger stimulation by pressure of 15 mm H2O caused a stronger effect on dopamine
release in in the nucleus accumbens compared with a stronger skin stimulation by the
pressure of 100 mm H2O (17).
Coincidentally, the weak interactions wing of the U-shape dose-response curve is
currently one of the directions in the "Neuroprotection and neuroprotectors" project
steamed from the neuroprotection effects of brain energy substrates (see Further Reading)
with promising preliminary results concerning epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease (in
press).
References
1. Zilberter T, Roman J. Reflexo-Therapy with Mechanical Skin Stimulation: Pilot Study.
International Symposium on Integrative Medicine. New York: Omega Institute,
1999 [not a peer reviewed publication].
2. Olsson E.M.G. and von Scheele B. Relaxing on a Bed of Nails: An Exploratory Study
of the Effects on the Autonomic, Cardiovascular, and Respiratory Systems, and
Saliva Cortisol. THE JOURNAL OF ALTERNATIVE AND
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE. Volume 17, Number 1, 2011, pp. 512
3. Slominski A, Wortsman J. Neuroendocrinology of the skin. Endocr Rev. 2000
Oct;21(5):457-87.
4. Skobowiat C, Dowdy JC, Sayre RM, Tuckey RC, Slominski A.Cutaneous
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis homolog: regulation by ultraviolet radiation.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2011 Sep;301(3):E484-93. Epub 2011 Jun 14.
doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.00217.2011
5. Klaus Linde, Karin Niemann, Antonius Schneider, Karin Meissner. How large are the
nonspecific effects of acupuncture? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled
trials. BMC Medicine 2010, 8:75, 114

6. Howard H. Moffet. Traditional acupuncture theories yield null outcomes: a systematic

review of clinical trials. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 61 (2008) 741e747
7. Ji-Sheng Han. Acupuncture analgesia: Areas of consensus and controversy. PAIN 152
(2011) S41S48
8. Edward S. Yang & Pei-Wen Li & Bernd Nilius & Geng Li. Ancient Chinese medicine
and mechanistic evidence of acupuncture physiology. Pflugers Arch - Eur J
Physiol (2011) 462:645-53
9.

Jan M Keppel Hesselink, David J Kopsky. Enhancing acupuncture by low dose

naltrexone. Acupunct Med June 2011 Vol 29 No 2, 127-130

10.

Roland Staud, Michael E. Robinson, Casey T. Goldman, Donald D. Price.

Attenuation of experimental pain by vibro-tactile stimulation in patients with
chronic local or widespread musculoskeletal pain. European Journal of Pain 15
(2011) 836-42

11.

Geng Li & Jie-Ming Liang & Pei-Wen Li & Xiaoqiang Yao et al. Physiology and
cell biology of acupuncture observed in calcium signaling activated by acoustic
shear wave. Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol (2011) 462:587-597

12.

Florian Beissner, Christian Henke, and Paul U. Unschuld. Forgotten Features of

Head Zones and Their Relation to Diagnostically Relevant Acupuncture Points.
Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2011, Article ID
240653, doi:10.1093/ecam/nen088

13.

Calabrese EJ, McCarthy ME, Kenyon E. The occurrence of chemically induced

hormesis. Health Physics 1987, 52(5):531-41

14.

Calabrese EJ. Hormesis: Why it is important to toxicology and toxicologists.

Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Volume 27, Issue 7, pages 14511474,
July 2008.

15.

Calabrese EJ. Neuroscience and Hormesis: Overview and General Findings.

Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 38:249252, 2008

16.

Suresh IS Rattan and Taru Deva. Testing the hormetic nature of homeopathic
interventions through stress response pa. Hum Exp Toxicol 2010 29: 551.

17.

Maruyama, K., Shimoju, R., Ohkubo, M., Maruyama, H., & Kurosawa, M.
(2012). Tactile skin stimulation increases dopamine release in the nucleus
accumbens in rats. The Journal of Physiological Sciences, 62(3), 259-266.

Further reading
Zilberter, T. Another theory available for explaining acupuncture. Altern Ther Health
Med. 1996 May;2(3):17
Zilberter, T. Reflexo-therapy From Kuznetsov's Applicator to Shakti Mat. Create Space

publishing (2010)