WANG Yu, RONG Peijing

(Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China)

Abstract: Pain is described as an unpleasant subjective sensation caused by noxious or potentially noxious stimuli, often accompanied by motor reflexes, neural activities, and emotional responses. It is a complicated physiological and psychological phenomenon. Traditional Chinese medicine summed up the pathogenesis of pain as “hindering pain” and “deficiency pain”, acupuncture can often dredge channels and collaterals, activate blood and qi, play a role in analgesia. At present, although the analgesic effect of acupuncture has been corroborated by a large number of clinical and experimental studies, its mechanism remains unclear. In recent years, newly discovered Piezo sensitive ion channels are likely to bring some vitality to the study of acupuncture analgesia mechanism. The Piezo mechanically sensitive ion channels have a pressure-activated characteristic. The channel family consists of two structurally and genetically similar proteins, namely Piezo1 and Piezo2, which together form a mechanically gated cation channel that plays a vital role in the mechanical sensing mammalian process. Studies have shown that Piezo ion channels are closely related to tactile and pain, especially Piezo2 is widely expressed in skin Merkel cells and their dominant sensory nerve fibers, as well as dorsal root ganglia. Acupuncture, as a mechanical stimulus, often acting on a specific part of the body, and the body function is regulated by the transmission of mechanical force signals to biochemical signals. So, if the Piezo channel as the starting point for the acupuncture analgesic mechanism to explore new ideas, will be worth the wait.

Key words: acupuncture analgesia, piezo, mechanotransduction, ion channel