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This study was performed to determine whether spinal cholinergic systems mediate the relieving effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on cold and warm allodynia in a rat model of neuropathic pain. For neuropathic surgery, the right superior caudal trunk was resected at the level between the S1 and S2 spinal nerves innervating the tail. Two weeks after the injury, the intrathecal (i.t.) catheter was implanted. Five days after the catheterization, the rats were injected with atropine (non-selective muscarinic antagonist, 30 microg), mecamylamine (non-selective nicotinic antagonist, 50 microg), pirenzepine (M(1) muscarinic antagonist, 10 microg), methoctramine (M(2) antagonist, 10 microg) or 4-diphenylacetoxy-N-methylpiperidine methiodide (4-DAMP) (M(3) antagonist, 10 microg). Ten minutes after the injection, EA was applied to the ST36 acupoint for 30 min. The cold and warm allodynia were assessed by the tail immersion test [i.e., immersing the tail in cold (4 degrees C) or warm (40 degrees C) water and measuring the latency of an abrupt tail movement] before and after the treatments. The i.t. atropine, but not mecamylamine, blocked the relieving effects of EA on cold and warm allodynia. Furthermore, i.t. pirenzepine attenuated the antiallodynic effects of EA, whereas methoctramine and 4-DAMP did not. These results suggest that spinal muscarinic receptors, especially M(1) subtype, mediate the EA-induced antiallodynia in neuropathic rats.

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Abstract:The technique of rotating acupuncture needles has long been used to enhance the effects of acupuncture in Oriental medicine. However, it is difficult to standardize and quantify this stimulation condition. Thus we developed an automatically controlled rotating acupuncture (ACRA) system. The present study was conducted to evaluate the analgesic effects of ACRA using 4 different stimulation conditions (i.e., angle and frequency of rotation: 90° + 1 Hz, 90° + 1/4 Hz, 360° + 1 Hz, and 360° + 1/4 Hz) in Sprague-Dawley rats. Tail-flick latency to a noxious radiant heat stimulus in lightly anesthetized rats was measured before and after 15 min of ACRA stimulation at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint. ACRA stimulations under all of the conditions above produced more potent analgesic effects than plain acupuncture (PA, acupuncture needle insertion only), but only the 90° + 1/4 Hz ACRA condition showed a statistically significant effect versus PA (P < 0.01). Further, the analgesic effect of 90° + 1/4 Hz ACRA was reversed by pretreatment with naloxone (2 mg/kg, i.p.). These results indicate that the 90° + 1/4 Hz ACRA stimulation has the most potent analgesic effect in rats and that this is mediated by the endogenous opioid system.

The present study was performed to examine whether the leaves of Saururus chinensis (LOUR. )

Abstract:This study was performed to examine whether electroacupuncture potentiates the neostigmine-induced antiallodynia in neuropathic pain rats. Although intrathecal neostigmine (0.05, 0.1, and 0.3 μg) dose-dependently relieved cold allodynia, 0.3 μg neostigmine caused side effects. The coapplication of 0.1 μg neostigmine and electroacupuncture, however, produced potent antiallodynia, which was parallel to the effect of 0.3 μg neostigmine, without side effects. These results indicate that electroacupuncture can enhance the antiallodynic action of intrathecal neostigmine.

In this paper, a new temperature-controllable heat-acupuncture system is developed to replace the conventional heat-stimulating therapy practiced with moxibustion and heat acupuncture. The improved heat-stimulating characteristics of the developed system are experimentally verified.