ArticleNature neuroscience2010
Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture.
Article in Nature neuroscience, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 393 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
393 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 795 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of photobiomodulation on pain relief and functional improvement in fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Annals of medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of different acupuncture-related therapies for primary trigeminal neuralgia: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- External treatment of traditional Chinese medicine for cancer pain: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Systematic Review to Inform a World Health Organization (WHO) Clinical Practice Guideline: Benefits and Harms of Needling Therapies for Chronic Primary Low Back Pain in Adults.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2023Pooled it
- The use of acupuncture in patients with Raynaud's syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Acupuncture in medicine : journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society · 2023Pooled it
- Clinical efficacy of acupuncture for pain relief from renal colic: A meta-analysis and trial sequence analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Acupuncture for chronic nonspecific low back pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Effect of Acupuncture on the p38 Signaling Pathway in Several Nervous System Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2020Pooled it
- Acupuncture vs. Pharmacological Prophylaxis of Migraine: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in neurology · 2020Pooled it
- Effect of Transcutaneous Acupoint Electrical Stimulation on Urinary Retention and Urinary ATP in Elderly Patients After Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial.Clinical interventions in aging · 2022Trial
- Short-term effects of two deep dry needling techniques on pressure pain thresholds and electromyographic amplitude of the lumbosacral multifidus in patients with low back pain - a randomized clinical trial.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2020Trial
- Genetic predictors to acupuncture response for hot flashes: an exploratory study of breast cancer survivors.Menopause (New York, N.Y.) · 2020Trial
- Manual acupuncture versus sham acupuncture and usual care for prophylaxis of episodic migraine without aura: multicentre, randomised clinical trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2020Trial
- Acupuncture decreased the risk of stroke among patients with fibromyalgia in Taiwan: A nationwide matched cohort study.PloS one · 2020Trial
- Glial cells in neuropathic pain.Physiological reviews · 2026Review
- Driving Drugs Deeper: Force-Driven Microneedle Systems for Active Therapy and Their Road Towards Clinical Implementation.Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany) · 2026Review
- Electroacupuncture and P2X receptors: purinergic mechanisms in pain modulation : A narrative review with structured evidence mapping.Purinergic signalling · 2026Review
- Acupuncture regulates mitochondrial homeostasis in traumatic brain injury: current evidence, mechanistic hypotheses, and translational challenges.Chinese medicine · 2026Review
- Mechanisms of Acupuncture on the Neurovascular Unit in Migraine: A Narrative Review.European journal of neurology · 2026Review
- 40 Hz light flickering alleviates chronic pain via adenosine signaling in the retina-amygdala pathway.Cell research · 2026Article
333 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
16 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Acupuncture is an invasive procedure commonly used to relieve pain. Acupuncture is practiced worldwide, despite difficulties in reconciling its principles with evidence-based medicine. We found that adenosine, a neuromodulator with anti-nociceptive properties, was released during acupuncture in mice and that its anti-nociceptive actions required adenosine A1 receptor expression. Direct injection of an adenosine A1 receptor agonist replicated the analgesic effect of acupuncture. Inhibition of enzymes involved in adenosine degradation potentiated the acupuncture-elicited increase in adenosine, as well as its anti-nociceptive effect. These observations indicate that adenosine mediates the effects of acupuncture and that interfering with adenosine metabolism may prolong the clinical benefit of acupuncture.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.