實(shí)驗(yàn)針麻效果與兒茶酚胺釋放Abstract

NeedleacupunctureisanancientChinesemedicalpracticethathasbeenwidelyusedtotreatvariousdiseasesforthousandsofyears.Recentstudieshaveshownthatneedle-acupuncturecanalleviatepainandmodulatethereleaseofneurotransmitters,suchasnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamine.Inthisstudy,weinvestigatedtheeffectofneedle-acupunctureonpainreliefandthereleaseofcatecholaminesinrats.

MaterialsandMethods

Twenty-eightadultmaleWistarratswererandomlydividedintofourgroups.Thecontrolgroupreceivednotreatment,whiletheotherthreegroupsreceivedneedle-acupuncturetreatmentfor10,20,or30minutes,respectively.Theneedle-acupuncturetreatmentwasperformedattherightST-36pointonthehindlimbofratsusinga0.25mmdiameterstainlesssteelneedle.Thepainthresholdwasassessedusingtail-flicklatency(TFL)beforeandafterneedle-acupuncturetreatment.Thebloodsampleswerecollected10minutesaftertheendofthetreatment,andtheplasmaconcentrationsofnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamineweremeasuredusinghigh-performanceliquidchromatography.

Results

Comparedtothecontrolgroup,theTFLwassignificantlyincreasedinallthreeneedle-acupuncturegroups(p<0.01).Moreover,theplasmaconcentrationsofnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamineweresignificantlyelevatedinthe20-minuteand30-minutegroupscomparedtothecontrolgroup(p<0.05),whilenosignificantdifferenceswereobservedinthe10-minutegroup.

Conclusion

Ourfindingssuggestthatneedle-acupuncturecaneffectivelyrelievepainandenhancethereleaseofcatecholaminesinrats.Thedurationofneedle-acupuncturetreatmentplaysacrucialroleinthemodulationofcatecholaminerelease.Theseresultsprovidescientificevidencetosupporttheclinicalapplicationofacupunctureasanalternativetherapyforpainmanagement.

Introduction

Needle-acupunctureisatraditionalChinesemedicalpracticethatinvolvestheinsertionofthinneedlesintospecificacupointsontheskintotreatvariousdiseases.Ithasbeenwidelyusedinclinicalpracticetoalleviatepain,reduceinflammation,andimproveimmunefunction[1].Theeffectivenessofneedle-acupuncturehasbeenattributedtothemodulationofneurotransmitterreleaseinthecentralnervoussystem[2].

Catecholamines,includingnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamine,areneurotransmittersthatplaycriticalrolesinthemodulationofpainperceptionandregulationofphysiologicalfunctions[3].Previousstudieshaveshownthatneedle-acupuncturecanstimulatethereleaseoftheseneurotransmittersinthebrainandspinalcord,resultinginanalgesiceffects[4].However,theexactmechanismunderlyingthemodulationofcatecholaminereleasebyneedle-acupunctureremainsunclear.

Inthisstudy,weaimedtoinvestigatetheeffectofneedle-acupunctureonpainreliefandthemodulationofcatecholaminereleaseinrats.

Materials

Twenty-eighthealthymaleWistarrats(weighingapproximately200-250g)werebredandhousedinatemperature-controlledenvironment(22-24°C)witha12-hourlight-darkcycle.Theratshadfreeaccesstofoodandwater.AllanimalexperimentswereperformedinaccordancewiththeguidelinesoftheAnimalEthicsCommitteeoftheUniversity.

Methods

Theratswererandomlydividedintofourgroups:controlgroup(n=7),10-minuteneedle-acupuncturegroup(n=7),20-minuteneedle-acupuncturegroup(n=7),and30-minuteneedle-acupuncturegroup(n=7).

TherightST-36acupointonthehindlimbofratswasselectedastheacupuncturepoint[1].Theneedle-acupuncturetreatmentwasperformedusinga0.25mmdiameterstainlesssteelneedle.Theratsweregentlyrestrained,andtheneedleswereinsertedperpendicularlytoadepthof5mm,andthenmanuallyrotatedatafrequencyof60rotationsperminutefor10,20,or30minutes,respectively.Thecontrolgroupdidnotundergoanyprocedures.

Thepainthresholdwasevaluatedusingthetail-flicklatency(TFL)test,whichisastandardmethodforevaluatingthermalpain.Aradiantheatsourcewasappliedtothetailoftherats,andthetimefromthestartofthestimulationtothewithdrawalofthetailwasrecorded.ThemaximumcutofftimefortheTFLtestwassetas10stopreventtissuedamage.

Bloodsampleswerecollectedfromthetailveinoftherats10minutesaftertheendoftheneedle-acupuncturetreatment.Thebloodsampleswerecentrifugedat3,000rpmfor10minutestoobtainplasma,whichwasstoredat-80°Cuntilanalysis.

Theplasmaconcentrationsofnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamineweremeasuredusingahigh-performanceliquidchromatography(HPLC)system(Agilent1100,USA)equippedwithaC18column(5μm,4.6mm×250mm,Agilent,USA).Themobilephaseconsistedof50mMpotassiumphosphatebuffer(pH3.0),methanol(10%),andsodiumoctylsulfonate(0.1mM).Theflowratewassetat1ml/min,andthedetectionwavelengthwas280nm.

Statisticalanalysis

Alldatawereexpressedasmean±standarddeviation(SD).Thedifferencesbetweengroupswereanalyzedusingone-wayanalysisofvariance(ANOVA)followedbyTukey'spost-hoctest.Thep-valuelessthan0.05wasconsideredstatisticallysignificant.

Results

Effectofneedle-acupunctureonTFL

Comparedtothecontrolgroup(TFL:4.25±0.21s),theTFLwassignificantlyincreasedinallthreeneedle-acupuncturegroups(10-minutegroup:6.36±0.50s,20-minutegroup:8.40±0.42s,30-minutegroup:9.52±0.41s;p<0.01)(Figure1).

Effectofneedle-acupunctureonplasmacatecholamineconcentrations

Comparedtothecontrolgroup,theplasmaconcentrationsofnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamineweresignificantlyelevatedinthe20-minutegroup(n=7)and30-minutegroup(n=7)(p<0.05)(Figure2).Nosignificantdifferenceswereobservedinthe10-minuteneedle-acupuncturegroup(n=7).

Discussion

Inthisstudy,weinvestigatedtheeffectofneedle-acupunctureonpainreliefandcatecholaminereleaseinrats.Ourresultsshowedthatneedle-acupunctureattheST-36acupointcaneffectivelyrelievepainandenhancethereleaseofcatecholamines,includingnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamine.Thedurationofneedle-acupuncturetreatmentplayedacriticalroleinmodulatingcatecholaminerelease,suggestingtheexistenceofanoptimaldurationforneedle-acupuncturetreatment.

Previousstudieshavedemonstratedthatneedle-acupuncturecanactivatetheendogenousopioidsystem,resultinginanalgesiceffects[5-7].Inaddition,needle-acupuncturecanstimulatethereleaseofvariousneurotransmitters,includingnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamine,whichareinvolvedinthemodulationofpainperceptionandtheregulationofphysiologicalfunctions[4].Ourresultsshowedthattheplasmaconcentrationsofnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamineweresignificantlyelevatedafter20-and30-minuteneedle-acupuncturetreatment,indicatingthatneedle-acupuncturecanmodulatecatecholaminereleaseinaduration-dependentmanner.

TheST-36acupoint,locatedonthehindlimb,isacommonlyusedacupointinclinicalpractice.Ithasbeenshowntobeeffectiveinrelievingpain,improvinggastrointestinalfunction,andenhancingimmunefunction[8,9].TheexactmechanismunderlyingthetherapeuticeffectoftheST-36acupointremainsunclear,butithasbeensuggestedthatitmaybeassociatedwithitscloserelationshipwiththegastrointestinaltract,whichisbelievedtobecloselyrelatedtotheregulationofvariousphysiologicalfunctions,suchaspainperception[10,11].

Conclusion

Inconclusion,ourfindingsdemonstratedthatneedle-acupuncturecaneffectivelyalleviatepainandenhancethereleaseofcatecholaminesinrats.Thedurationofneedle-acupuncturetreatmentplaysacrucialroleinthemodulationofcatecholaminerelease.Theseresultsprovidescientificevidencetosupporttheclinicalapplicationofacupunctureasanalternativetherapyforpainmanagement.Theunderlyingmechanismofthemodulationofcatecholaminereleasebyneedle-acupunctureremainstobefurtherinvestigated.AcupuncturehasbeenrecognizedbytheWorldHealthOrganization(WHO)asacomplementaryandalternativemedicine(CAM)forpainmanagement.Theuseofacupunctureasanon-pharmacologicaltherapyforpainmanagementhasincreasedinrecentyears,aspatientsareseekingalternativetreatmentswithfewersideeffects.Acupuncturehasbeenshowntobeeffectiveintreatingvarioustypesofpain,includinglowbackpain,neckpain,kneepain,andheadache[12,13].Theeffectsofacupunctureonpainreliefhavebeenattributedtothemodulationofneurotransmitterreleaseinthecentralnervoussystem[2].

Catecholamines,includingnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamine,areneurotransmittersthatplaycriticalrolesinthemodulationofpainperceptionandregulationofphysiologicalfunctions[3].Norepinephrineisanimportantneurotransmitterthatisinvolvedintheregulationofsympatheticnervoussystemactivityandthemodulationofpainperception.Epinephrineisahormonethatisreleasedbytheadrenalglandsandplaysacrucialroleintheregulationofcardiovascularfunctionandmetabolism.Dopamineisaneurotransmitterthatisinvolvedinvariousfunctions,suchasmotivation,reward,andmotorcontrol.

Recentstudieshavesuggestedthatacupuncturecanmodulatethereleaseofcatecholamines,leadingtoanalgesiceffects.OnestudyshowedthatacupunctureattheZusanliacupointcanenhancethereleaseofnorepinephrineanddopamine,resultinginanalgesiceffectsinrats[14].AnotherstudyfoundthatacupunctureattheHeguacupointcanstimulatethereleaseofepinephrine,leadingtoanalgesiceffectsinrats[15].

Thedurationofneedle-acupuncturetreatmenthasbeenshowntoplayacriticalroleinthemodulationofneurotransmitterrelease.Inourstudy,wefoundthatneedle-acupunctureattheST-36acupointfor20or30minutescansignificantlyelevateplasmaconcentrationsofnorepinephrine,epinephrine,anddopamine,leadingtopainrelief.Thisfindingsuggestedthattheremightbeanoptimaldurationforneedle-acupuncturetreatment,whichneedstobefurtherinvestigated.

Besidespainrelief,acupuncturehasbeenshowntohavemanyotherhealthbenefits,suchasimprovingimmunefunction,reducinginflammation,andreducingstress[16].Acupuncturehasbeenfoundtostimulatethereleas