ArticleChinese journal of integrative medicine2016
Electroacupuncture attenuates spinal nerve ligation-induced microglial activation mediated by p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase.
Article in Chinese journal of integrative medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of different acupuncture therapies on postherpetic neuralgia: A Bayesian network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Pooled it
- Molecular Mechanisms of Electroacupuncture-Induced Spinal Microglial Reprogramming in Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Search-Narrative Review.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Potential mechanisms of acupuncture in regulating neuroinflammation and central sensitization in chronic pain: a narrative review of preclinical, clinical, and translational evidence.American journal of translational research · 2026Review
- The efficacy of electroacupuncture for postherpetic neuralgia arising from herpes zoster affecting the cephalo-facial area: study protocol for a double center randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Microglia's Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Pain Pathogenesis and Electroacupuncture Analgesia: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture protects against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury via regulating P2×7R expression.Cerebral circulation - cognition and behavior · 2025Article
- Application and underlying mechanism of acupuncture for the nerve repair after peripheral nerve injury: remodeling of nerve system.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Efficacy of Electroacupuncture for the Treatment of Postherpetic Neuralgia: Study Protocol for a Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Effect of Acupuncture on Diabetic Neuropathy: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Electroacupuncture effects on the P2X4R pathway in microglia regulating the excitability of neurons in the substantia gelatinosa region of rats with spinal nerve ligation.Molecular medicine reports · 2021Article
- Acupuncture attenuates the development of diabetic peripheral neuralgia by regulating P2X4 expression and inflammation in rat spinal microglia.The journal of physiological sciences : JPS · 2020Article
- Protein Kinase A Is Involved in Neuropathic Pain by Activating the p38MAPK Pathway to Mediate Spinal Cord Cell Apoptosis.Mediators of inflammation · 2020Article
- Low-Frequency Electroacupuncture Alleviates Chronic Constrictive Injury-Induced Mechanical Allodynia by Inhibiting NR2B Upregulation in Ipsilateral Spinal Dorsal Horn in Rats.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2019Article
- Acupuncture Resolves Persistent Pain and Neuroinflammation in a Mouse Model of Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions.The journal of pain · 2018Article
- Alleviating Mechanical Allodynia and Modulating Cellular Immunity Contribute to Electroacupuncture's Dual Effect on Bone Cancer Pain.Integrative cancer therapies · 2018Article
- Exploring the Mechanisms of Electroacupuncture-Induced Analgesia through RNA Sequencing of the Periaqueductal Gray.International journal of molecular sciences · 2017Article
- Effect of electroacupuncture on the cervicospinal P2X7 receptor/fractalkine/CX3CR1 signaling pathway in a rat neck-incision pain model.Purinergic signalling · 2017Article
- The Effect of Repeated Electroacupuncture Analgesia on Neurotrophic and Cytokine Factors in Neuropathic Pain Rats.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2016Article
- Article
- Electroacupuncture downregulates P2X3 receptor expression in dorsal root ganglia of the spinal nerve-ligated rat.Molecular painArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate whether analgesic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) is affected by p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) on microglia.
methodsThere were two experiments. The experiment 1: 40 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the normal, surgery, EA and sham EA groups, and the L5 spinal nerve ligation (SNL) on the right side was used to establish neuropathic pain model. EA was applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST36) and Kunlun (BL60) at 24, 48 and 72 h after SNL for 30 min, once per day. The paw withdrawal thresholds (PWTs) were measured before surgery (as base) and at 24, 25, 49 and 73 h after surgery. Phospho-p38 MAPK (p-p38 MAPK), oxycocin-42 (OX-42, marker of microglia), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, marker of astrocyte) in bilateral spinal cord dorsal horn (SCDH) were detected by immunofluorescence, respectively. The experiment 2: 40 male SD rats were cannulated for SNL-induced neuropathic pain, and then were randomly divided into the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), EA plus DMSO, 4-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-(4-methylsulfonylpheny)-5-(4-pyridyl)-1H-imidazole (SB203580) and EA plus SB203580 groups. SB203580 (30 nmol/L) was administered 5 min prior to EA treatment. The PWTs and OX-42 in bilateral SCDH were measured as mentioned above.
resultsSNL-induced neuropathic pain reduced PWTs and increased the expression of p-p38 MAPK and OX-42 in bilateral lumbar SCDH of rats (P<0.01). Spinal p-p38 MAPK was only co-localized with OX-42 in our study. EA treatment significantly alleviated SNL-mediated mechanical hyperalgesia, and suppressed the expression of p-p38 MAPK and OX-42 in lumbar SCDH (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Intrathecal injection of low dose SB203580 had no influence on PWTs (P>0.05), but significantly inhibited the expression of OX-42 positive cells in bilateral SCDH (P<0.01 or P<0.05). EA plus SB203580 synergistically increased PWTs, and reduced the expression of bilateral spinal OX-42 (P<0.01 or P<0.05).
conclusionsThe central mechanism of EA-induced anti-hyperalgesia may be partially associated with the reduced expression of p-p38 MAPK, and subsequently reducing the activation of OX-42 in neuropathic pain. Therefore, EA may be a new complementary and alternative therapy for neuropathic pain.
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