Study of Electro-Acupuncture Therapy (muscle-EAT) for Adjuvant-Induced Arthritis in Rats / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

To examine the effectiveness of pain relief for muscle electro-acupuncture therapy (muscle-EAT), we performed a study using rats, with the adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) rat as an experimental arthritis model. Twenty-four female SD rats (6 weeks) were divided into three groups. AA rats were raised for 8 weeks as chronic pain model. Group I (AA-E) received stimulation of the quadriceps (depth 5mm) with muscle-EAT 1 HA 10 minutes, for five days. Group II (AA-N) was untreated as controls. Group III (CTL) were the normal rat controls.<br>After muscle-EAT stimulation, we measured the blood flow volume in the rat foot, reactive speed response to pain-related scores, and the amount of locomotor activity. The AA group showed significantly lower blood volume and locomotor activity response than the CTL group.<br>Moreover, sensory abnormalities caused a delayed reactive speed to heat stimulation. After muscle-EAT stimulation, Group I showed increased blood flow volume in the foot, locomotor activity and reactive speed response in pain-related scores, compared with those shown by Group II. These findings suggest that muscle-EAT is effective for relief of pain induced by chronic inflammation.