title: Electroacupuncture versus celecoxib for neuropathic pain in rat SNL model.
abstract: Though acupuncture has long been used to treat various kinds of pain, its mechanisms remain partly understood. Our recent study has shown that it may inhibit cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the spinal dorsal horn where COX-2 is upregulated after the development of neuropathic pain following spinal nerve ligation (SNL). The current study directly compared the effect of acupuncture with COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib in the spinal cord after SNL in rats. After L5 SNL, the rats were treated either with acupuncture applied to Zusanli (ST36) and Sanyinjiao (SP6) bilaterally with or without electrical stimulation (2 Hz, 0.5-1-2 mA) four times over 22 days, and/or celecoxib fed daily. Paw-withdrawal-threshold to mechanical stimulation and paw-withdrawal-latency to thermal test were tested for neuropathic pain at four intervals following the treatments in comparison with the pre-treatment and non-treatment controls. The results demonstrate that electroacupuncture (EA) had a long lasting and better analgesic effect than celecoxib in reducing neuropathic hypersensitivity. Though COX-2 expression in the spinal L4-L6 dorsal horn by immunostaining was significantly reduced by acupuncture just as well as by celecoxib, the superior analgesic mechanism of acupuncture appears well beyond COX-2 inhibition alone.
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR, PR China.
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: Y M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.forename: H Q
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Z X
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Bian
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D000068579:Celecoxib; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D008026:Ligation; D008297:Male; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000187:drug effects*; D011720:Pyrazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects*; D013127:Spinal Nerves / Q000601:surgery; D013449:Sulfonamides / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000700:Analgesics; D011720:Pyrazoles; D013449:Sulfonamides; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D000068579:Celecoxib