Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China; School of Rehabilitation Science, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Neurosci Lett. 2024 Jan 18;820:137580. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2023.137580. Epub 2023 Dec 9.
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is characterized by debilitating pain. Electroacupuncture (EA), a traditional Chinese medical therapy, has shown promise in KOA pain management. This study investigated the therapeutic potential of EA in KOA and its impact on limbic system neural plasticity. Sixteen rats were randomly assigned into two groups: EA group and sham-EA group. EA or sham-EA interventions were administered at acupoints ST32 (Futu) and ST36 (Zusanli) for three weeks. Post-intervention resting-state fMRI was scanned, assessing parameters including Amplitude of low frequency fluctuations (ALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), functional connectivity (FC) and nodal characterizations of network within limbic system. The results showed that EA was strategically directed towards the limbic system, resulting in discernible alterations in neural activity, FC, and network characteristics. Our findings demonstrate that EA had a significant impact on the limbic system neural plasticity in rats with KOA, presenting a novel nonpharmacological approach for KOA treatment.
膝骨关节炎（KOA）的特征是疼痛。电针（EA）作为一种传统的中医治疗方法，在 KOA 疼痛管理中显示出了前景。本研究调查了 EA 在 KOA 中的治疗潜力及其对边缘系统神经可塑性的影响。将 16 只大鼠随机分为两组：EA 组和假 EA 组。EA 或假 EA 干预分别在穴位 ST32（浮兔）和 ST36（足三里）进行了 3 周。干预后进行静息态 fMRI 扫描，评估参数包括低频振幅（ALFF）、局部一致性（ReHo）、功能连接（FC）和边缘系统内网络的节点特征。结果表明，EA 策略性地针对边缘系统，导致神经活动、FC 和网络特征的明显改变。我们的研究结果表明，EA 对 KOA 大鼠的边缘系统神经可塑性有显著影响，为 KOA 的治疗提供了一种新的非药物方法。
