title: Ascending nociceptive control contributes to the antinociceptive effect of acupuncture in a rat model of acute pain.
abstract: Acupuncture-induced analgesia depends on the activation of endogenous pain modulation pathways. In this study, we asked whether ascending nociceptive control (ANC), a form of pain-induced analgesia, contributes to the antinociceptive effect of acupuncture. To answer this question, we tested the ability of procedures that block ANC-induced analgesia, at peripheral, spinal, nucleus accumbens and rostral ventral medulla levels, to block acupuncture-induced analgesia. Acupuncture at ST36 (Zusanli), a widely used acupoint located in the hind limb, induced potent heterosegmental antinociception in the orofacial formalin test. The magnitude of this antinociceptive effect was similar to that induced by an intraplantar injection of capsaicin, a procedure classically used to activate ANC. The antinociceptive effect of acupuncture was blocked by sciatic C-fibers depletion (1% perineural capsaicin), spinal administration of a μ-opioid (Cys2,Tyr3,Orn5,Pen7amide, .2 μg) or of a GABAA (bicuculline, .3 μg) receptor antagonist, intra-nucleus accumbens administration of a μ-opioid receptor antagonist (Cys2,Tyr3,Orn5,Pen7amide, 1 μg), or intrarostral ventral medulla administration of a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist (mecamylamine, .6 μg). In addition, acupuncture at ST36 and/or upper lip formalin induced c-Fos expression in the nucleus accumbens and in rostral ventral medulla. On the basis of these results, we propose that ANC contributes to the antinociceptive effect of acupuncture.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This article presents a novel mechanism of acupuncture analgesia, contributing to the understanding of its scientific basis. Because ANC is a pain modulation pathway activated by peripheral noxious stimulation that ascends to supraspinal regions, it could be the link between acupoint stimulation and the central mechanisms underlying acupuncture analgesia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Division of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.
authors.forename: Glaucia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tobaldini
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Division of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.
authors.forename: Betina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aisengart
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Division of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo M S
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Department of Functional and Structural Biology, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas - UNICAMP, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudia H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Tambeli
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Division of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. Electronic address: fischer@ufpr.br.
authors.forename: Luana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia; D059787:Acute Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D059225:Nociception / Q000502:physiology*; D059226:Nociceptive Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D010147:Pain Measurement; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
keywords: Acupuncture; analgesia; ascending nociceptive control; nociception; pain