Abstract
Background: Acupuncture is proposed worldwide as a treatment for pain and other health problems, but the findings of acupuncture analgesia have been inconsistent. This study aims to evaluate the existing animal studies for evidence of acupuncture analgesia and its association of glia. Methods: Literature searches were performed in Web of Science, PubMed, EMBASE and CNKI through August 21st 2020. Preclinical studies of pain models with both pain and glial outcomes were included. Findings: A total of 43 studies in rodents were included. The analgesic effect of single-treatment was more effective in inflammatory pain (thermal: 4.02 (95%CI: 1.31~6.73); mechanical: 2.17 (95%CI: 0.97~3.38)) than neuropathic pain (thermal: 1.40 (95%CI: 0.85~1.94); mechanical: 1.93 (95%CI: 0.89~2.98)). Repeated-treatment was more curative in alleviating thermal pain in neuropathic condition (2.03, 95%CI: 1.60~2.46). Furthermore, acupuncture effectively inhibited the activation of astrocyte (inflammatory pain: -1.86 (95%CI: -2.73~-0.99), neuropathic pain: -2.39 (95%CI: -3.26~-1.52)) and microglia (inflammatory pain: -2.24 (95%CI: -2.91~-1.58), neuropathic pain: -1.92 (95%CI: -2.44~-1.41)) in a time-course pattern. Interpretation: Acupuncture improves analgesic effect under the possible mechanism of glia inhibition. These results provide an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture analgesia in animal models to research further neurobiological mechanisms and to inform the design of future clinical trials. Funding: National Key R&D Program of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Development Project of Shanghai Peak Disciplines Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Rising-Star Program, 111 Project, key project of Shanghai Science &Technology, Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Major Project and ZJLab. Declaration of Interest: No conflicts of interest were disclosed.
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