Electroacupuncture alleviates diabetic neuropathic pain in rats by suppressing P2X3 receptor expression in dorsal root ganglia.
Xueyu FeiXiaofen HeZhaoxia TaiHanzhi WangSiying QuLuhang ChenQunqi HuJianqiao FangYong-Liang JiangPublished in: Purinergic signalling (2020)
Diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) is a troublesome diabetes complication all over the world. P2X3 receptor (P2X3R), a purinergic receptor from dorsal root ganglion (DRG), has important roles in neuropathic pain pathology and nociceptive sensations. Here, we investigated the involvement of DRG P2X3R and the effect of 2 Hz electroacupuncture (EA) on DNP. We monitored the rats' body weight, fasting blood glucose level, paw withdrawal thresholds, and paw withdrawal latency, and evaluated P2X3R expression in DRG. We found that P2X3R expression is upregulated on DNP, while 2 Hz EA is analgesic against DNP and suppresses P2X3R expression in DRG. To evaluate P2X3R involvement in pain modulation, we then treated the animals with A317491, a P2X3R specific antagonist, or α β-me ATP, a P2X3R agonist. We found that A317491 alleviates hyperalgesia, while α β-me ATP blocks EA's analgesic effects. Our findings indicated that 2 Hz EA alleviates DNP, possibly by suppressing P2X3R upregulation in DRG.
Keyphrases
- neuropathic pain
- spinal cord
- poor prognosis
- blood glucose
- spinal cord injury
- body weight
- type diabetes
- binding protein
- glycemic control
- long non coding rna
- cardiovascular disease
- mouse model
- signaling pathway
- cell proliferation
- blood pressure
- wound healing
- metabolic syndrome
- chronic pain
- weight loss
- brain injury
- subarachnoid hemorrhage
- pain management
- optical coherence tomography