College of Chinese Medicine, Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, 404332 Taichung, Taiwan.
Department of Anesthesiology, Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, 42743 Taichung, Taiwan.
J Integr Neurosci. 2023 Jul 17;22(4):97. doi: 10.31083/j.jin2204097.
Chronic pain refers to pain that persists for over three months. Chronic pain may restrict activities of daily living, including work, learning, social life, and can lead to anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance. Imaging data have demonstrated that central sensitization often occurs in the brain of patients with chronic pain, which arises from imbalanced neurotransmission in the central nervous system. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is an ion channel to serve as an inflammatory detector in the brain. We aim to determine the properties of acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) on cold stress-induced mice fibromyalgia (FM) and surveyed the character of TRPV1 and linked molecules in chronic FM pain.
Intermittent cold stress (ICS) was used to induce mice FM model. Mice were subgrouped into normal mice, ICS-induced FM group, FM mice with ACE, and FM in group. ACE is a novel acupuncture technique that provides convenience and continuous nerve stimulation that has been reported effective on pain management.
Our behavioral experiments showed similar levels of pain response among all groups before treatment. After ICS, prolonged mechanical and thermal pain was initiated (mechanical threshold: 1.96 ± 0.12 g; thermal latency: 4.86 ± 0.21 s) and were alleviated by ACE treatment and gene deletion. Inflammatory mediators were increased in the plasma of FM mice, while TRPV1 and related kinases were amplified in the hypothalamus and cerebellum. These changes were ameliorated in the ACE-treated and groups.
These novel findings suggest that chronic FM pain can be modulated by ACE or gene deletion. The analgesic effect of ACE through the TRPV1 pathway may reflect its potential as a therapeutic target for FM treatment.
慢性疼痛是指持续超过三个月的疼痛。慢性疼痛可能会限制日常生活活动，包括工作、学习、社交生活，并且可能导致焦虑、抑郁和睡眠障碍。影像学数据表明，慢性疼痛患者的大脑中经常发生中枢敏化，这是由于中枢神经系统中神经递质的不平衡传递引起的。瞬时受体电位香草酸 1（TRPV1）是一种离子通道，作为大脑中的炎症探测器。我们旨在确定穴位埋线（ACE）对冷应激诱导的小鼠纤维肌痛（FM）的特性，并调查慢性 FM 疼痛中 TRPV1 及其相关分子的特征。
间歇性冷应激（ICS）用于诱导小鼠 FM 模型。将小鼠分为正常小鼠、ICS 诱导的 FM 组、FM 伴 ACE 组和 FM 组。ACE 是一种新的针灸技术，提供方便和持续的神经刺激，已被报道对疼痛管理有效。
我们的行为学实验表明，所有组在治疗前的疼痛反应水平相似。ICS 后，机械和热痛持续时间延长（机械阈值：1.96±0.12 g；热潜伏期：4.86±0.21 s），ACE 治疗和基因缺失可缓解疼痛。FM 小鼠血浆中炎症介质增加，而下丘脑和小脑中的 TRPV1 及其相关激酶被放大。这些变化在 ACE 治疗和基因缺失组中得到改善。
这些新发现表明，慢性 FM 疼痛可以通过 ACE 或基因缺失来调节。ACE 通过 TRPV1 途径的镇痛作用可能反映了其作为 FM 治疗的治疗靶点的潜力。
