Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Neurology of Zhejiang Province, Department of Neurobiology and Acupuncture Research, The Third Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, China.
Mol Brain. 2024 Sep 27;17(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s13041-024-01144-z.
Pain aversion is an avoidance response to painful stimuli. Previous research has indicated that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is involved in pain aversion processing. However, as interneurons, the role of GABAergic neurons in the ACC (GABA neurons) in pain aversion is still unclear. Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to ameliorate pain aversion, but the mechanism is not clarified. The present study provided evidence that inhibition of GABA neurons contributed to pain aversion. EA alleviated pain aversion by activating GABA neurons in an intensity-dependent manner. Specifically, 0.3 mA EA stimulation showed better effects on pain aversion than 0.1 mA stimulation, which could be reversed by chemical genetic inhibition of GABA neurons. These results provide a novel mechanism by which EA alleviates pain aversion by reversing GABA neurons.
痛觉回避是一种对疼痛刺激的回避反应。先前的研究表明，前扣带皮层（ACC）参与了痛觉回避的处理。然而，作为中间神经元，ACC 中的 GABA 能神经元（GABA 神经元）在痛觉回避中的作用尚不清楚。电针（EA）已被证明可以改善痛觉回避，但机制尚不清楚。本研究提供了证据表明，GABA 能神经元的抑制有助于痛觉回避。EA 通过以强度依赖的方式激活 GABA 神经元来缓解痛觉回避。具体来说，0.3 mA 的 EA 刺激比 0.1 mA 的刺激对痛觉回避有更好的效果，而 GABA 神经元的化学遗传抑制可以逆转这种效果。这些结果提供了一种新的机制，即 EA 通过逆转 GABA 神经元来缓解痛觉回避。
