Torao Ishida^1,2, Gui-feng Wang ¹, Ken Takagi¹, Yoshinori Sunami¹, Nobuyuki Tanahashi¹, Kaito Mizuno¹, Jun Kawanokuchi¹, Hisayo Takagi¹, Ko Nishimura¹, Yi Guo ²

(1 Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-0293, Japan. 2 Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China)

Abstract: Background: Under conventional statistical analysis, acupuncture at the points of GV20 and Ex-HN3 did not improve mild depression of healthy human subjects but improved mildly depressed rats. Objective: Our objective is revealing cause of the difference between above results of clinical tests and animal experiments. Materials and Methods: Clinical data of acupuncture treatment described in our two published papers were analyzed with the regression line between the physiological values before treatment (PVBT) and the increased values of the physiological values after treatment (PVAT) of healthy human subjects. Results: The analysis showed that the conventional analysis misled for the treatment to be ineffective with offset between increased values of PVAT at the low level of PVBT and decreased values of PVAT at the high level of PVBT. Conclusion: There is a need for a new statistical analysis, because the conventional analysis misled for the homeostatic treatment to be ineffective with offset between increasing effect and decreasing effect.

Key words: Depression, Acupuncture, NIRS, Ex-HN3, GV20, ST36, SP6, LU6, Regression line, Homeostatic