Role of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 in Electroacupuncture Analgesia on Chronic Inflammatory Pain in Mice

Chronic inflammatory pain may result from peripheral tissue injury or inflammation, increasing the release of protons, histamines, adenosine triphosphate, and several proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is known to be involved in acute to subacute neuropathic and inflammatory pain; however, its exact mechanisms in chronic inflammatory pain are not elucidated. Our results showed that EA significantly reduced chronic mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in the chronic inflammatory pain model. Chronic mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia were also abolished in TRPV1-/- mice. TRPV1 increased in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and spinal cord (SC) at 3 weeks after CFA injection. The expression levels of downstream molecules such as pPKA, pPI3K, and pPKC increased, as did those of pERK, pp38, and pJNK. Transcription factors (pCREB and pNFκB) and nociceptive ion channels (Nav1.7 and Nav1.8) were involved in this process. Inflammatory mediators such as GFAP, S100B, and RAGE were also involved. The expression levels of these molecules were reduced in EA and TRPV1-/- mice but not in the sham EA group. Our data provided evidence to support the clinical use of EA for treating chronic inflammatory pain.