As one of the modalities of traditional Oriental medicine, acupuncture has been widely used to treat many disorders and diseases, including chronic pain, stroke, and insomnia as well as depression, while its mechanisms remain unclear. Recent experimental studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can attenuate oxidative stress in different diseases, which also need quite a lot of efforts to deeply understand although a few progresses have been made.

Reactive oxygen species, including superoxide anion (O^2-), hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), hydroxyl radical (OH^-), are generated during stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes mellitus, and so on. Under normal physiological circumstances, there is a balance between antioxidants and oxidants produced by aerobic cellular systems. Enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) causes oxidative stress leading to damage in lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Previous studies proved that acupuncture exerts therapeutical effect by modulating oxidative stress biomarkers such as 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), antioxidative enzymes including superoxide dismutase (SOD), prooxidants such as ROS, and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Since redox reaction is associated with oxidative stress state, it is plausible that the dynamic equilibrium of oxidation and reduction could be used to evaluate the antioxidative effects of acupuncture in some diseases. Furthermore, studies using oxidative stress-related assessments techniques and the specific oxidative stress biomarkers should be particularly useful in generating new hypotheses to better our understanding of the mechanism of antioxidative effects of acupuncture.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will stimulate continuing efforts to understand the physiological mechanisms of antioxidative effect of acupuncture. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Effects of acupuncture on biological markers of oxidative stress
• Effects of acupuncture on antioxidative enzymes and nonenzymes
• Effect of acupuncture on the oxidative stress in health and diseases
• Effects of acupuncture on redox signaling pathways
• The assessments techniques of antioxidative effect of acupuncture
• Mechanisms by which acupuncture plays a role in oxidative stress
• Interaction of acupuncture and medicines on antioxidative effect
• Recent advances in acupuncture and oxidative stress research

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