Mechanism of Tiaoshen Electroacupuncture Promoting the Relief of Chronic Pain via Activating Reward
Objective To analyze the improvement of pain threshold and reward behavior of chronic pain rats by adding acupoints with Tiaoshen effect to conventional electroacupuncture.Methods Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into nor-mal,acute pain,chronic pain,conventional electroacupuncture,and Tiaoshen electroacupuncture groups.Complete Freund's ad-juvant(CF A)was used to establish the acute and chronic pain models.Acupoints of Zusanli and Kunlun were applied to the con-ventional electroacupuncture group rats.The acupoints of Baihui and Yintang were included in the Tiaoshen electroacupuncture group,in addition to the previously mentioned acupoints.The reward behavior of rats was observed in all groups except the nor-mal group.Tyrosine hydroxylase(TH),a dopamine(DA)neuron marker in the ventral tegmental area(VTA)region of rats in each group,was detected and analyzed.Results The pain threshold was significantly reduced after CFA injection(P＜0.05).The chronic pain group rats showed anxiety and depression-like behavior(all P＜0.05).Pain relief was accompanied with re-ward activation in rats of acute pain group.In contrast,reward inhibition was accompanied in rats of chronic pain group,and the TH expression in the VTA region was lower than that in the acute pain group(all P＜0.05).After conducting conventional electroacupuncture,the pain threshold was upregulated,the reward inhibition was relieved,and the expression of TH was upreg-ulated in chronic pain rats.After conducting Tiaoshen electroacupuncture,the regulatory effects on pain threshold,negative emo-tions,reward,and TH expression were promoted when compared to conventional electroacupuncture(all P＜0.05).Conclusion Tiaoshen electroacupuncture can promote the relieving effect of conventional electroacupuncture on chronic pain,the mechanism of which may be related to reward activation.
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