Cupping therapy of Chinese medicine is able to relieve a variety of diseases or clinical conditions

which results from the comprehensive effects of multiple types of stimulation exerted onto the regional acupoint areas.Among the stimuli

the negative pressure from cupping is one of the main factors inducing therapeutic effects.In the present paper

the authors review development of researches on the underlying mechanism of therapeutic effects of cupping-negative pressure from 1) the factor of intra-cup negative pressure;2) influence of intra-cup negative pressure on cup-blackspot formation;3) influence of cupping on regional blood vessels and blood flow;4) effect of cupping on regional ultrastructure of the capillary in the raw-surface tissue;5) effect of cupping-negative pressure on regional endothelial cells;and 6) biological effects of negative pressure drainage.Generally

cupping induced negative pressure can dilate local blood vessels to improve microcirculation

promote capillary endothelial cells repair

accelerate granulation and angiogenesis

etc.

in the regional tissues

normalizing the patients' functional state at last.