JIANG Xia, TU Wenzhan,LI Sisi, WU Jiayu,ZHOU Ye，YANG 

Guanhu,JIANG Songhe

（1The Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University，Zhejiang Wenzhou 325000; 2 Integrative & Optimized Medicine Research center, China-USA Institute for Acupuncture and Rehabilitation of Wenzhou Medical University, Zhejiang Wenzhou 325000）

Abstract: objective:  To observe the influence of acupuncture on the P2X4 receptor in the lumbar spinal cord  (L4-6) of rats with neuropathic pain, also  to investigate whether the analgesic effect of acupuncture achieved through inhibiting the subsequently regulating the expression of P2X4.Methods:  Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups,  there were 10 rats in each group. The pain threshold valueswere detected on the day before operation, and day 3, 5，7, 10, 12 and 14 after model building. Zusanli acupoint (ST -36) and Kunlun acupoint (BL-60) were applied in this study. The treatment started on the day 7 after modelling and lasted for 7 days. At the  day  14,  the  spinal  cord  tissues  were  taken  and  used  for  examing  the  expression  of P2X4. Results: A  significant  decrease  of  pain  threshold  values  were  observed  in  rats  with neuropathic pain  (P＜0.01),  but all of those  were increased after  acupuncture  treatment  (P＜0.001). The expression of P2X4 mRNA and protein in spinal cord were increased in model group, and could been inhibited significantly by acupuncture treatment (P＜0.001).Conclusion:  These results demonstrated that the analgesic effect of acupuncture may be achieved through inhibiting the spinal cord down-regulating the expression of P2X4.

Key words: acupuncture; neuropathic pain;P2X4