title: Electroacupuncture relieves neuropathic pain via upregulation of glutamate transporters in the spinal cord of rats.
abstract: Glutamate transports (GTs), the only vehicle for removal of glutamate from the extracellular fluid, is reported to be related to chronic pain. To investigate whether the glutamate/aspartate transporter (GLAST) and glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1) participate in electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia, the EA effect was observed with paw withdraw threshold in a rat model of spared nerve injury. The expression levels of GLAST and GLT-1 were determined with Western Blot and RT-PCR. The results showed significantly upregulated GLAST and GLT-1, along with the relieved pain behaviors after EA treatment. In addition, intrathecal injection of GTs inhibitor, l-trans-pyrrolidine-2-4-dicarboxylate, attenuated the EA-induced analgesic effect. The experiment demonstrates that EA can increase the GTs of neuropathic pain rats, which might be one of the mechanisms underlying its effectiveness in the neuropathic pain.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Lu-Ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, PR China. Electronic address: dmx@mail.hzau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ming-Xing
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D015667:Acupuncture Analgesia; D000818:Animals; D003998:Dicarboxylic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D027341:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D027342:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D009437:Neuralgia / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000494:pharmacology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000378:metabolism*; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D003998:Dicarboxylic Acids; D027341:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 1; D027342:Excitatory Amino Acid Transporter 2; D011759:Pyrrolidines; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C493395:Slc1a2 protein, rat; C493392:Slc1a3 protein, rat; C083486:pyrrolidine-2,4-dicarboxylic acid
keywords: Electroacupuncture; GLAST; GLT-1; Neuropathic pain; l-trans-Pyrrolidine-2-4-dicarboxylate