Responses of Primary Afferent Fibers to Acupuncture-Like Peripheral Stimulation at Different Frequencies: Characterization by Single-Unit Recording in Rats

• 作者: Feng-Yu Liu Fu-Jun Zhai Guo-Gang Xing Ji-Sheng Han Ling-Yu Liu Ran Huo Rong ghang Song-Ping Han Tian-Jia Song Xiao-Jing Shou
• 来源期刊: 神经科学通报（英文版）
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（8）
• 所属期刊栏目: Original Articles
• 页码范围: 907-918
• 页数: 12页
• 语种: 英文

摘要

The pain-relieving effect of acupuncture is known to involve primary afferent nerves (PANs) via their roles in signal transmission to the CNS.Using single-unit recording in rats,we characterized the generation and transmission of electrical signals in Aβ and Aδ fibers induced by acupuncture-like stimuli.Acupuncture-like signals were elicited in PANs using three techniques:manual acupuncture (MAc),emulated acupuncture (EAc),and electro-acupuncture (EA)-like peripheral electrical stimulation (PES).The discharges evoked by MAc and EAc were mostly in a burst pattern with average intra-burst and inter-burst firing rates of 90 Hz and 2 Hz,respectively.The frequency of discharges in PANs was correlated with the frequency of PES.The highest discharge frequency was 246 Hz in Aβ fibers and 180 Hz in Aδ fibers.Therefore,EA in a dense-disperse mode (at alternating frequency between 2 Hz and 15 Hz or between 2 Hz and 100 Hz) best mimics MAc.Frequencies of EA output ＞250 Hz appear to be obsolete for pain relief.