Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:483123. doi: 10.1155/2012/483123. Epub 2012 Oct 11.
Here we used a mouse model of zymosan-induced colorectal hypersensitivity, a similar model of IBS in our previous work, to evaluate the effectiveness of the different number of times of acupuncture and elucidate its potential mechanism of EA treatment. Colorectal distension (CRD) tests show that intracolonic zymosan injection does, while saline injection does not, induce a typical colorectal hypersensitivity. EA treatment at classical acupoints Zusanli (ST36) and Shangjuxu (ST37) in both hind limbs for 15 min slightly attenuated and significantly blunted the hypersensitive responses after first and fifth acupunctures, respectively, to colorectal distention in zymosan treatment mice, but not in saline treatment mice. Western blot results indicated that ion channel and TrpV1 expression in colorectum as well as ERK1/2 MAPK pathway activation in peripheral and central nerve system might be involved in this process. Hence, we conclude that EA is a potential therapeutic tool in the treatment and alleviation of chronic abdominal pain, and the effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia is accumulative with increased number of times of acupuncture when compared to that of a single time of acupuncture.
在这里，我们使用了酵母聚糖诱导的结直肠过敏的小鼠模型，这是我们之前工作中 IBS 的类似模型，来评估不同次数的针刺的效果，并阐明其 EA 治疗的潜在机制。结肠扩张（CRD）测试表明，腔内注射酵母聚糖会引起典型的结直肠过敏，而盐水注射则不会。在双侧后肢的经典穴位足三里（ST36）和上巨虚（ST37）进行 15 分钟的 EA 治疗，分别在第一次和第五次针刺后，对酵母聚糖治疗小鼠的结肠扩张引起的过敏反应有轻微的抑制作用，而对盐水治疗小鼠则没有明显的抑制作用。Western blot 结果表明，离子通道和 TRPV1 在结直肠中的表达以及外周和中枢神经系统中 ERK1/2 MAPK 通路的激活可能参与了这一过程。因此，我们得出结论，EA 是治疗和缓解慢性腹痛的一种潜在治疗工具，与单次针刺相比，针刺次数的增加会累积增强针刺镇痛的效果。
