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Deep Sequencing Identification of Differentially Expressed miRNAs in the Spinal Cord of Resiniferatoxin-Treated Rats in Response to Electroacupuncture

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Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) is an effective treatment to relieve pain in patients with postherpetic neuralgia. However, the mechanisms of EA involved therein are still unknown. We first injected resiniferatoxin (RTX) into Sprague Dawley rats to construct the neuralgia model. One week after injection, the rats were treated with EA at the “Huantiao” (GB30) and “Yanglingquan” (GB34) acupoints for 5 weeks. Nociceptive behavioral tests were performed to analyze the changes in thermal sensitivity and mechanical allodynia after RTX induction and EA treatment. Deep sequencing was performed to identify differentially expressed miRNAs in the spinal cord of RTX-induced rats in response to EA treatment. The nociceptive behavioral tests showed that EA at the left GB30 and GB34 acupoints significantly reduced RTX-induced tactile sensitivity and increased RTX-inhibited thermal sensitivity. The sequencing data indicated that RTX resulted in one upregulated and five downregulated miRNAs, and EA treatment resulted in two upregulated miRNAs. Furthermore, seven upregulated and two downregulated miRNAs were found between rats subjected to EA and sham operation. Functional analysis suggested that the targets of differentially expressed miRNAs were enriched in many nervous system–related pathways. The pathway-gene-miRNA net analysis showed that miR-7a-5p had the most target genes. Moreover, miR-233-3p was downregulated after RTX injection and upregulated by EA treatment. We speculated that the upregulation of miR-7a-5p and miR-233-3p is involved in the analgesic effects of EA. Our analysis on the EA-induced differential expression of miRNAs provides novel insights into the mechanisms of EA analgesia in postherpetic neuralgia.

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Author notes

  1. Jing Zou and Xueyang Dong contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuhan Hospital of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine, Wuhan, China

    Jing Zou & Xueyang Dong

  2. College of Acupuncture, Hubei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China

    Yanling Li, Siqi Tong, Jingwen Wang & Mingxuan Liao

  3. Wuhan Wuchang Hospital, No. 116 Yangyuan Street, Wuchang, Wuhan, 430063, China

    Guofu Huang

Authors
  1. Jing Zou
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  2. Xueyang Dong
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  3. Yanling Li
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  4. Siqi Tong
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  5. Jingwen Wang
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  6. Mingxuan Liao
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  7. Guofu Huang
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Contributions

Jing Zou and Guofu Huang designed the experiments. Xueyang Dong and Yanling Li drafted and revised the manuscript. Siqi Tong and Jingwen Wang assisted with data analysis and interpretation. Mingxuan Liao was a major contributor to the writing of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guofu Huang.

Ethics declarations

All experimental procedures were approved by the Animal Care Committee at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and conformed to the ethical guidelines of the International Association for the Study of Pain.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Significance

The present study identified changes in miRNA expression induced by electroacupuncture in the spinal cord in a rat model of postherpetic neuralgia. The results elucidate the potential role of miRNAs in electroacupuncture-mediated analgesia.

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Zou, J., Dong, X., Li, Y. et al. Deep Sequencing Identification of Differentially Expressed miRNAs in the Spinal Cord of Resiniferatoxin-Treated Rats in Response to Electroacupuncture. Neurotox Res 36, 387–395 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-019-00052-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-019-00052-8

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