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Acupuncture Enhances Signals at Sensitized Acupoints to Elevate Pressure Pain Threshold in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients

  • Acupuncture Research
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Abstract

Objective

To observe the pressure pain threshold (PPT), skin conductance (SC) and blood perfusion (BP) of the sensitized acupoints in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and explore the mechanism of acupuncture at the sensitized acupoints for treating diseases.

Methods

Eleven healthy subjects and 11 unilateral KOA patients were recruited from July 2020 to March 2021 in this study. The PPT, SC and BP of control acupoints in healthy controls, and non-sensitized and sensitized acupoints in KOA patients were measured and compared between baseline and after manual acupuncture (MA) treatment.

Results

Before MA treatment, lower PPT was observed at the sensitized acupoints compared with non-sensitized and control acupoints (P<0.05). After MA treatment, PPT at the sensitized acupoints increased significantly in KOA patients (P<0.05). Before MA treatment, there was no statistical difference in SC and BP among control, non-sensitized and sensitized acupoints (P>0.05). Compared with the control and non-sensitized acupoints, there were significant increases of SC and BP in sensitized acupoints of KOA patients after MA treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

Conclusion

MA at sensitized acupoints could elevate PPT of KOA patients, which may be associated with the increment of SC and BP.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China

    Xiao-yu Wang, Qing-quan Yu, Wei Chen, Xiao-ning ZHANG, Hong-ye Wan, Yang-shuai Su, Wei He & Xiang-hong Jing

  2. Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Biomedical Engineering, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zhong-yi Nie & Ru-ya Li

Authors
  1. Xiao-yu Wang
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  2. Zhong-yi Nie
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  3. Qing-quan Yu
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  4. Wei Chen
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  5. Xiao-ning ZHANG
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  6. Hong-ye Wan
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  7. Yang-shuai Su
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  8. Wei He
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  9. Ru-ya Li
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  10. Xiang-hong Jing
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ru-ya Li.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Author Contributions

Li RY and He W conceived and designed the study. Wang XY and Nie ZY performed the experiment of skin conductance, Nie ZY provided flexible electrodes for detection. Yu QQ and Chen W performed the experiment of pressure pain threshold. Wan HY and Su YS performed the experiment of blood perfusion. Zhang XN and Jing XH supervised the project and revised the article. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript for publication.

Supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2019YFC1709002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81674083, 61801012), and CACMS Innovation Fund (No. CI2021A03501)

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Wang, Xy., Nie, Zy., Yu, Qq. et al. Acupuncture Enhances Signals at Sensitized Acupoints to Elevate Pressure Pain Threshold in Knee Osteoarthritis Patients. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 1105–1110 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-3588-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-022-3588-6

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