ArticleBMC complementary and alternative medicine2018
Repeated electroacupuncture treatment attenuated hyperalgesia through suppression of spinal glial activation in chronic neuropathic pain rats.
Article in BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 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
- Effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for preemptive analgesia on intraoperative opioid dosage in burn patients: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.Perioperative medicine (London, England) · 2026Article
- Molecular and Cellular Mechanism of Acupuncture: Neuro-Immune Interactions Based on Endogenous Opioid System.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2026Review
- Integrated therapy including acupuncture in a patient with long-term survival from spinal cord metastases of ALK-positive lung adenocarcinoma: a case report.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- The Role of Astrocytes in Poststroke Rehabilitation.Brain and behavior · 2025Review
- Electroacupuncture Regulates Macrophage Polarization to Alleviate the Neuropathic Pain Induced by Spared Nerve Injury.Journal of pain research · 2025Article
- Mirror-Image Pain Update: Complex Interactions Between Central and Peripheral Mechanisms.Molecular neurobiology · 2024Review
- Electroacupuncture efficacy in diabetic polyneuropathy: Study protocol for a double-blinded randomized controlled multicenter clinical trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024Article
- Electroacupuncture at Sensitized Acupoints Relieves Somatic Referred Pain in Colitis Rats by Inhibiting Sympathetic-Sensory Coupling to Interfere with 5-HT Signaling Pathway.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2024Article
- Application and underlying mechanism of acupuncture for the nerve repair after peripheral nerve injury: remodeling of nerve system.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2023Review
- Role of nerve signal transduction and neuroimmune crosstalk in mediating the analgesic effects of acupuncture for neuropathic pain.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Effects of Acupuncture on Neuropathic Pain Induced by Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Review
- Potential mechanisms of acupuncture for neuropathic pain based on somatosensory system.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Electroacupuncture relieves hyperalgesia by regulating neuronal-glial interaction and glutamate transporters of spinal dorsal horns in rats with acute incisional neck pain.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Article
- Therapeutic applications and potential mechanisms of acupuncture in migraine: A literature review and perspectives.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2022Review
- Electroacupuncture Alleviates Visceral Hypersensitivity in IBS-D Rats by Inhibiting EGCs Activity through Regulating BDNF/TrkB Signaling Pathway.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Needling Interventions for Sciatica: Choosing Methods Based on Neuropathic Pain Mechanisms-A Scoping Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture for Treating Osteoporotic Vertebral Compression Fracture- (OVCF-) Induced Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021Article
- The Role of Neuroglial Crosstalk and Synaptic Plasticity-Mediated Central Sensitization in Acupuncture Analgesia.Neural plasticity · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundCumulated evidence reveals that glial cells in the spinal cord play an important role in the development of chronic neuropathic pain and are also complicated in the analgesic effect of EA intervention. But the roles of microgliacytes and astrocytes of spinal cord in the process of EA analgesia remain unknown.
methodsA total of 120 male Wistar rats were used in the present study. The neuropathic pain model was established by chronic constrictive injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. The rats were randomly divided into sham group, CCI group, and sham CCI + EA group, and CCI + EA group. EA was applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST36)-Yanlingquan (GB34). The mechanical (both time and force responses) and thermal pain thresholds (PTs) of the bilateral hind-paws were measured. The number of microgliacytes and activity of astrocytes in the dorsal horns (DHs) of lumbar spinal cord (L4-5) were examined by immunofluorescence staining, and the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) protein was detected by western blot.
resultsFollowing CCI, both mechanical and thermal PTs of the ipsilateral hind-paw were significantly decreased beginning from the 3rd day after surgery (P < 0.05), and the mechanical PT of the contralateral hind-paw was considerably decreased from the 6th day on after surgery (P < 0.05). CCI also significantly upregulated the number of Iba-1 labeled microgliacytes and the fluorescence intensity of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) -labeled astrocyte in the superficial laminae of DHs on bilateral sides (P < 0.05). After repeated EA, the mechanical and thermal PTs at bilateral hind-paws were significantly relieved (P < 0.05). The increased of number of microgliacytes was markedly suppressed by 2 days' EA intervention, and the average fluorescence intensity was suppressed by 2 weeks' EA. The expression of GFAP protein were down-regulated by 1 and 2 weeks' EA treatment, respectively (P < 0.05).
conclusionsRepeated EA can relieve neuropathic pain and mirror-image pain in chronic neuropathic pain rats, which is probably associated with its effect in downregulating glial cell activation of the lumbar spinal cord, the microgliacyte first and astrocyte later.
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