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Proteomic Analysis of Differential Proteins Related to Anti-nociceptive Effect of Electroacupuncture in the Hypothalamus Following Neuropathic Pain in Rats

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Abstract

Increasing evidence has been accumulated for the effectiveness of acupuncture therapy in relieving pain. However, there are limited data on regulation of protein expression after electroacupuncture (EA) intervention. Thus, the present study is designed to determine changes in protein expression following EA stimulation in rats with sciatic nerve chronic constrictive injury (CCI) induced neuropathic pain. Sixty Wistar rats were equally randomized into normal control group, CCI group, and CCI with EA stimulation (EA) group. The CCI model was established by ligature of the left sciatic nerve. EA stimulation was applied at Zusanli (ST36) and Yanglingquan (GB34) in the EA group. Differentially expressed hypothalamic proteins in the three groups were identified by 2-D gel electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectrometry. The functional clustering and pathway of the identified proteins were analyzed by Mascot software. Results showed that, after CCI, the thermal pain threshold of the affected hind footpad was decreased and was reversed gradually by 12 sessions of EA treatment. Following EA intervention, there were 17 hypothalamic proteins identified with significant changes in the expression (>twofold). Three gene-ontologies (oxidoreductase activity, oxidation reduction, and protein binding) were enriched, while there was a significant regulation of glycolysis/gluconeogenesis/hexose metabolism pathway. These data demonstrate that EA intervention can attenuate pain via regulation of expression of multiple proteins in the hypothalamus. Further, hypothalamic glucose metabolism may be important in supporting energy and neurotransmitter homeostasis in the effects of EA intervention.

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Acknowledgments

This study was jointly supported by the National Nature Science Foundation (90709031, 81102647) and the Special Project of Chinese Medicine (973) of the National Basic Research Program of China (2013CB531904).

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The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology, Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, No.16 Nanxiaojie, Dongzhimennei, Beijing, 100700, China

    Yonghui Gao, Shuping Chen, Kan Yu, Junying Wang, Lina Qiao, Fanying Meng & Junling Liu

  2. Hainan Medical University, Haikou, 571101, Hainan Province, China

    Qiuling Xu

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  1. Yonghui Gao
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  2. Shuping Chen
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  3. Qiuling Xu
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  4. Kan Yu
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Correspondence to Junling Liu.

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Gao, Y., Chen, S., Xu, Q. et al. Proteomic Analysis of Differential Proteins Related to Anti-nociceptive Effect of Electroacupuncture in the Hypothalamus Following Neuropathic Pain in Rats. Neurochem Res 38, 1467–1478 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-013-1047-7

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