Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27978835›Full record

ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2016

Activation of hippocampal MEK1 contributes to the cumulative antinociceptive effect of electroacupuncture in neuropathic pain rats.

Yong-Hui Gao, Cheng-Wen Li, Jun-Ying Wang, Yu Kan, Lian-Hong Tan, Xiang-Hong Jing, Jun-Ling Liu

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
3.2field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Yong-Hui GaoDepartment of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Cheng-Wen LiCollege of Acupuncture & Moxibustion and Tui-na, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, 410208, Hunan Province, China.
Jun-Ying WangDepartment of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Yu KanDepartment of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Lian-Hong TanDepartment of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China.
Xiang-Hong JingMeridian Research Center, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
Jun-Ling LiuDepartment of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China. 13521898023@163.com.
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College · CNFirst Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundElectroacupuncture (EA) intervention can relieve a variety of pain; however, optimal EA protocols have not been clearly determined. In addition, although central mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) signaling has been shown to be involved in the antinociceptive effect of acupuncture stimulation, its characteristics at different time-points of EA intervention have not been fully elucidated. Therefore, the present study investigated the relationship between the effects of different numbers of EA intervention sessions and the activation of MEK1 in the hippocampus and hypothalamus in a rat model of neuropathic pain.

methodsAfter ligation of the left sciatic nerve, which induces chronic constriction injury (CCI), the acupoints Zusanli (ST36) and Yanglingquan (GB34) were applied. The thermal withdrawal latency of the hind paw was used to evaluate the effect of EA on pain thresholds. Intra-hippocampus microinjection of PD98059, a MEK inhibitor, was performed to validate the involvement of MEK in EA analgesia. The hippocampus and hypothalamus were harvested to examine the phosphorylation levels of MEK (pMEK) by western blotting.

resultsIn CCI rats, the thermal pain threshold of the affected hind paw decreased significantly relative to the control. Following subsequent daily EA interventions, CCI-induced ipsilateral hyperalgesia was markedly improved from day 4 and the analgesic effect of EA lasted 3 days after cessation of EA. Four sessions of EA markedly suppressed CCI-induced decrease of hippocampal pMEK1 (normalized to the total MEK level). In contrast, successive sessions of EA intervention gradually down-regulated the CCI-induced up-regulation of hypothalamic pMEK1 along with the increase numbers of EA intervention. However, EA did not exert the same analgesic effect after microinjection of PD98059 into the contralateral hippocampus during the first 3 days of EA intervention.

conclusionsEA intervention can induce time-dependent cumulative analgesia in neuropathic pain rats after 4 successive sessions of daily EA intervention, which is at least in part related to the activation of hippocampal MEK1.

Indexed as

ElectroacupunctureAcupuncture AnalgesiaAcupuncture PointsAnimalsHippocampusHumansMaleMAP Kinase Kinase 1NeuralgiaRatsRats, WistarMAP Kinase Kinase 1Acupuncture analgesiaCumulative effectHippocampusMitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 1Neuropathic pain

Identifiers

PMID27978835
PMCPMC5159961
OpenAlexW2565680883

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Registered trials

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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.