IMR Press / JIN / Volume 22 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2204097
Open Access Original Research
Acupoint Catgut Embedding Diminishes Fibromyalgia Pain through TRPV1 in the Mouse Brain
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1 College of Chinese Medicine, Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, 404332 Taichung, Taiwan
2 Department of Anesthesiology, Taichung Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, 42743 Taichung, Taiwan
3 School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, Tzu Chi University, 97004 Hualien, Taiwan
4 Department of Neurosurgery, China Medical University Hospital, 404332 Taichung, Taiwan
5 Graduate Institute of Integrated Medicine, China Medical University, 404332 Taichung, Taiwan
6 Chinese Medicine Research Center, China Medical University, 404332 Taichung, Taiwan
*Correspondence: yiwenlin@mail.cmu.edu.tw (Yi-Wen Lin)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2023, 22(4), 97; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2204097
Submitted: 13 April 2023 | Revised: 9 May 2023 | Accepted: 12 May 2023 | Published: 17 July 2023
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background: Chronic pain refers to pain that persists for over three months. Chronic pain may restrict activities of daily living, including work, learning, social life, and can lead to anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance. Imaging data have demonstrated that central sensitization often occurs in the brain of patients with chronic pain, which arises from imbalanced neurotransmission in the central nervous system. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is an ion channel to serve as an inflammatory detector in the brain. We aim to determine the properties of acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) on cold stress-induced mice fibromyalgia (FM) and surveyed the character of TRPV1 and linked molecules in chronic FM pain. Methods: Intermittent cold stress (ICS) was used to induce mice FM model. Mice were subgrouped into normal mice, ICS-induced FM group, FM mice with ACE, and FM in Trpv1-/- group. ACE is a novel acupuncture technique that provides convenience and continuous nerve stimulation that has been reported effective on pain management. Results: Our behavioral experiments showed similar levels of pain response among all groups before treatment. After ICS, prolonged mechanical and thermal pain was initiated (mechanical threshold: 1.96 ± 0.12 g; thermal latency: 4.86 ± 0.21 s) and were alleviated by ACE treatment and TRPV1 gene deletion. Inflammatory mediators were increased in the plasma of FM mice, while TRPV1 and related kinases were amplified in the hypothalamus and cerebellum. These changes were ameliorated in the ACE-treated and Trpv1-/- groups. Conclusions: These novel findings suggest that chronic FM pain can be modulated by ACE or TRPV1 gene deletion. The analgesic effect of ACE through the TRPV1 pathway may reflect its potential as a therapeutic target for FM treatment.

Keywords
fibromyalgia
acupoint catgut embedding
TRPV1
phosphorylated endoplasmic reticulum kinase (pERK)
medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)
somatosensory (SSC)
Funding
TTCRD112-14/Tzu Chi University
CMU111-S-25/China Medical University
Ministry of Education (MOE)
Figures
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