Evidence Details for Pomc
PMID Title Journal Year Abstract
34472492 Effects of electroacupuncture on pain sensation in a rat model of hyperalgesia with nicotine dependence. Neural Regen Res. 2022 Apr;17(4):905-910. doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.322477. 2022 Apr Tobacco smoking is considered to be one of the main risk factors in the development of chronic pain. Long-term chronic exposure to nicotine and other forms of tobacco have been shown to be associated with an increased incidence of pain. Studies have shown that acupuncture can help smokers to reduce their desire to smoke, reduce their withdrawal symptoms, and avoid a relapse after treatment. However, little has been reported about the effects of acupuncture on pain sensitivity caused by long-term smoking. Models of hyperalgesia were established in rats exposed to nicotine for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks of continuous nicotine exposure, electroacupuncture at bilateral acupoints Zusanli (ST36) and Taichong (LR3) was performed 20 minutes per day for 6 days at a continuous wave with a frequency of 2 Hz and a stimulus intensity of 1 mA. The results revealed that electroacupuncture treatment increased the mechanical response threshold of hind paw of nicotine-dependent rats with hyperalgesia and up-regulated the protein expression of pain-related factors mu-opioid receptor, beta-endorphin and glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 in the spinal cord and midbrain periaqueductal gray and the protein expression of glutamic acid decarboxylase 67 in the spinal cord. These findings suggest that electroacupuncture treatment has positive analgesic effects on pain sensitivity caused by long-term chronic nicotine exposure. One possible mechanism for the improved analgesia is that electroacupuncture increases the expression of pain-related factors in the spinal cord and midbrain periaqueductal gray. This study was approved by Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of the University of Miami (#18-167) on December 12, 2018."

Evidence Sentence: MOR, beta-EP, GAD67, and GAD65 protein expression in the spinal cord and PAG of the CTR (n = 6), NIC (n = 6) and NIC + EA (n = 6) groups of rats were analyzed by western blotting assay after the 6-day period of electroacupuncture treatment.
Evidence Sentence: Figure 4 shows the differences in MOR, beta-EP, GAD67, and GAD65 protein expression in the spinal cord of rats in the three groups after the 6-day period of electroacupuncture treatment.
Evidence Sentence: In the NIC group, MOR, beta-EP, GAD67, and GAD65 protein expression in the spinal cord were significantly lower compared to those in the CTR group (P < 0.05 or 0.01).
Evidence Sentence: After electroacupuncture treatments, MOR, beta-EP, GAD67, and GAD65 protein expression in the spinal cord increased in the nicotine exposed rats and were significantly higher than those in the NIC group without electroacupuncture (P < 0.05 or 0.001).
Evidence Sentence: The results indicate that MOR, beta-EP, GAD67, and GAD65 protein expression in the spinal cord were significantly increased by electroacupuncture treatment in the nicotine-induced hyperalgesic rats.
Evidence Sentence: Figure 5 shows the differences of MOR, beta-EP, GAD67, and GAD65 protein expression in the PAG of the three groups of rats.
Evidence Sentence: There were no significant differences in the protein expression of beta-EP or GAD67 in the PAG in the NIC group compared to the CTR group (P > 0.05).
Evidence Sentence: After electroacupuncture treatment, MOR, beta-EP, and GAD65 protein expression in the PAG increased in the nicotine exposed rats and were significantly higher than those in the NIC group without electroacupuncture (P < 0.05 or 0.01).
Evidence Sentence: There was no significant difference in the protein expression of GAD67 in the PAG between NIC + EA and NIC groups (P > 0.05), and the protein expression of beta-EP in the PAG in the NIC + EA group was significantly higher than that in the CTR group (P < 0.01).
Evidence Sentence: The results indicate that MOR, beta-EP, and GAD65 protein expression in the PAG could be significantly increased by electroacupuncture treatment in nicotine-induced hyperalgesic rats.