Peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase activation mediates acupuncture analgesia.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Acupuncture has been proven effective for various types of pain, and peripheral molecular signals around acupuncture-treated areas have been suggested to contribute to the analgesic effects of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanism from these peripheral molecular signals to central ones remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) activation induced by acupuncture treatment mediates acupuncture analgesia, and also to investigate the relationship between ROCK activation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which has previously been proven to mediate acupuncture analgesia and other related molecular changes during acupuncture.

Methods

Acupuncture was treated at the bilateral

SUBMITTER: Park JY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11364124 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature