1 Neurology Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.
2 Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
Acupunct Med. 2019 Feb;37(1):47-54. doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2017-011410. Epub 2019 Mar 7.
Acupuncture has been recommended as an alternative therapy for migraine. Emerging evidence suggests that the 5-HT receptor (5-HTR) plays a significant facilitatory role in descending modulation in migraine pathophysiology, and that activation of 5-HTR in the descending pathway is involved in migraine central sensitisation.
To investigate the ability of electroacupuncture (EA) to ameliorate central sensitisation via modulation of 5-HTR in the descending pain pathways using a rat model of migraine induced by repetitive dural electrical stimulation (DES).
64 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: Normal group; DES group (receiving dural electrical stimulation only); DES+GB20 group (DES model group treated with EA at GB20); and DES+Sham group (DES model group treated with EA at a non-traditional (sham) acupuncture point). The presence of cutaneous allodynia was determined by measuring facial and hind-paw withdrawal latencies to electronic von-Frey. The expression of 5-HTR in the descending pathways (periaqueductal grey, raphe magnus nucleus, and trigeminal nucleus caudalis) was assessed using immunofluorescence and Western blotting.
Facial and hind-paw withdrawal thresholds were significantly increased in the DES+GB20 group compared with the untreated DES group. The expression of 5-HTR was significantly decreased in the DES+GB20 group compared with the DES group (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), P<0.05). No significant differences in behaviour or expression were found between the rats in the DES+Sham group and the untreated DES group (one-way ANOVA, P>0.05).
EA at GB20 may ameliorate central sensitisation in migraine by inhibiting the activation of 5-HT receptors in the descending pain pathway in a rat model of migraine.
针灸已被推荐作为偏头痛的替代疗法。新出现的证据表明，5-羟色胺受体（5-HTR）在偏头痛病理生理学的下行调制中发挥着重要的促进作用，而下行途径中 5-HTR 的激活与偏头痛的中枢敏化有关。
通过重复硬脑膜电刺激（DES）诱导的偏头痛大鼠模型，研究电针（EA）通过调节下行疼痛通路中的 5-HTR 来改善中枢敏化的能力。
将 64 只雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠随机分为四组：正常组；DES 组（仅接受硬脑膜电刺激）；DES+GB20 组（DES 模型组接受 GB20 处的 EA 治疗）；DES+Sham 组（DES 模型组接受非传统（假）穴位的 EA 治疗）。通过电子 von-Frey 测量面部和后爪退缩潜伏期来确定皮肤感觉过敏的存在。使用免疫荧光和 Western blot 评估下行通路（导水管周围灰质、中缝大核和三叉神经尾核）中 5-HTR 的表达。
与未经治疗的 DES 组相比，DES+GB20 组的面部和后爪退缩阈值明显增加。与 DES 组相比，DES+GB20 组 5-HTR 的表达明显降低（单因素方差分析（ANOVA），P<0.05）。DES+Sham 组大鼠与未经治疗的 DES 组大鼠在行为或表达方面无明显差异（单因素方差分析（ANOVA），P>0.05）。
在偏头痛大鼠模型中，GB20 处的 EA 可能通过抑制下行疼痛通路中 5-HT 受体的激活来改善偏头痛中的中枢敏化。
