Electroacupuncture Analgesia Is Improved by Adenoviral Gene Transfer of Dopamine Beta-hydroxylase into the Hypothalamus of Rats

• 영문명: Electroacupuncture Analgesia Is Improved by Adenoviral Gene Transfer of Dopamine Beta-hydroxylase into the Hypothalamus of Rats
• 발행기관: 대한생리학회-대한약리학회
• 저자명: Soo-Jeong Kim Eun Sook Chung Jun-Ho Lee Chang Hoon Lee Sun Kwang Kim Hye-Jung Lee Hyunsu Bae
• 간행물 정보: 『The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology』제17권 제6호, 505~510쪽, 전체 6쪽
• 주제분류: 의약학 > 의학일반
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2013.01.01

영문 초록

Electroacupuncture (EA) is a modified form of acupuncture that utilizes electrical stimulation. We previously showed that EA stimulated rats were divided into responders that were sensitive to EA and non-responders that were insensitive to EA based on the tail flick latency (TFL) test. The dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) gene was more abundantly expressed in the hypothalamus of responder rats than non-responder rats. To determine whether overexpression of DBH gene expression in the hypo-thalamus modulate EA analgesia, we constructed a DBH encoding adenovirus and which was then injected into the hypothalamus of SD rats. Microinjection of DBH or control GFP virus into the hypothalamus had no changes on the basal pain threshold measured by a TFL test without EA treat-ment. However, the analgesic effect of EA was significantly enhanced from seven days after micro-injection of the DBH virus, but not after injection of the control GFP virus. DBH expression was significantly higher in the hypothalamus of DBH virus injected rat than control GFP virus or PBS injected rats. Moreover, expression of the DBH gene did not affect the body core temperature, body weight, motor function or learning and memory ability. Although the functional role of DBH in the hypothalamus in the analgesic effect of EA remains unclear, our findings suggest that expression of the DBH gene in the hypothalamus promotes EA analgesia without obvious side-effects.

키워드

Adenovirus Analgesia Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase Electroacupuncture Hypothalamus