The analgesic mechanism of electroacupuncture at the central level for neuropathic pain: a review of studies based on animal experiments

The analgesic mechanism of electroacupuncture at the central level for neuropathic pain: a review of studies based on animal experiments

This article analyzes the progress of animal experiments on the analgesic mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) at the central level for neuropathic pain (NP) in the past 10 years, and summarizes the analgesic mechanism of EA at the central level for NP. EA, as a safe and reliable treatment, can trea...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pengfei Qi, Quan Li, Mingyuan Han, Yang Cui, Xinyu Zhou, Zhongren Sun, Shuo Ding, Mengdi Yu, Hongbo Zhang, Hongna Yin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Neurology
Subjects:
electroacupuncture
neuropathic pain
central mechanisms
spinal dorsal horn
brain regions
animal models
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2025.1587471/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This article analyzes the progress of animal experiments on the analgesic mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) at the central level for neuropathic pain (NP) in the past 10 years, and summarizes the analgesic mechanism of EA at the central level for NP. EA, as a safe and reliable treatment, can treat NP by regulating the release of nociceptive neurotransmitters and receptors, upregulating the expression of non-coding RNA (ncRNA), inhibiting the activation of microglia, Ca2+/calmodulin kinase II (CaMKII) phosphorylation, dendritic spine remodeling, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS), and glucose metabolism. NP is a type of pain caused by various diseases. Pain caused by stroke, spinal cord injury, postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), diabetes, and chemotherapy-induced neuropathy all fall into the category of NP, which makes the treatment of NP very challenging. At present, EA research on the treatment of NP is more focused on the mechanism of the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, and there are relatively few animal experiments at the level of the central brain region. There is also a lack of clinical trials using human subjects and relevant biochemical indicators. In the future, electrophysiology, neuron tracing, and multi-omics techniques combined with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence should be used to further improve the analgesic mechanism of EA on the central level for NP, making EA the best treatment for NP.
ISSN:1664-2295

Similar Items