The antipruritic effect of acupuncture was studied using a rat model of hindlimb scratching. After acupuncture or electroacupuncturc (EA), which was conducted for 30 min, itch-associated behavior was induced by an intradermal injection of 2% serotonin (20μ) into the rostral back, and then numbers of scratching bouts were counted for 60 min. During the first experiment, acupuncture stimulations were applied to several different points. However acupuncture significantly reduced numbers of scratchings only when applied to cervical dermatomes, in the second experiment, plain acupuncture, or 2Hz, or 120Hz EA were applied to acupoints LI 11 and LI 4, at which acupuncture stimulation produced the greatest antipruritic effect in the 1st experiment, and as serotonin was administered in the same manner described for the 1st experiment. Results showed that 2Hz EA stimulation tended to increase pruritic bouts by approximately 18% versus the animals treated with plain acupuncture, whereas 120Hz EA stimulation tended to decrease pruritic bouts by approximately 39% compared with animals subjected to plain acupuncture. When nor-binaltorphimine (a -opioid receptor antagonist) was pretreated to elucidate the relation between -opioid receptor and the antipruritic effect of 120Hz EA, it was found to markedly inhibit the antipruritic effect of 120Hz EA. These results suggest that acupuncture and EA stimulation are effective treatments for pruritus if administered to dermatomes corresponding to affected sites or to adjacent dermatomes and that this effect is due to the antipruritic effect of -opioid receptor activation maximally induced by high-frequency EA stimulation.
TwycrossRGreavesMWHandwerkerHJonesEALibrettoSESzepietowskiJCZyliczZ.Itch: scratching more than the surface. The Quarterly journal of medicine. Vol 96, pp. 7–26, 2003.
2.
YosipovitchGDoqueMl, FastK, DawnAGCoghillRC.Scratching and noxious heat stimuli inhibit itch in humans: a psychophysical study. The British journal of dermatology.Vol 156, pp. 629–634, 2007.
3.
AtanassoffPGBrollSJ, ZhangJ, GrecnquistL, SilvermanDGLaMotteRH.Enhancement of experimental pruritus and mechanically evoked dysesthesiac with local anesthesia. Somatosensory & motor research.Vol 16, pp. 291–298, 1999.
4.
NIH consensus conference. Acupuncture, the journal of the American Medical Association.Vol 280, pp. 1518–1524, 1998.
5.
KaptchukTJ. Acupuncture: theory, efficacy, and practice. Annals of internal medicine. Vol 136, pp. 374–383, 2002.
6.
ChcrkinDCShermanKJDeyoRAShekelIe PG A review of the evidence for the effectiveness, safety, and cost of acupuncture, massage therapy, and spinal manipulation for back pain. Annals of internal medicine. Vol 138, pp. 898–906, 2003.
7.
ChengRSPomeranzB.Electroacupuncture analgesia could be mediated by at least two pain-relieving mechanisms: endorphin and non-endorphin systems. Life sciences.Vol 25, pp. 1957–1962, 1979.
8.
ChenXHHanJS. All three types of opioid receptors in the spinal cord are important for 2/15Hz electroacupuncture analgesia. European journal of pharmacology.Vol 211, pp.203–210, 1992.
9.
HanZJiangYHWanYWangYChangJKHanJS. Endomorphin-1 mediates 2Hz but not 100Hz electroacupuncture analgesia in the rat. Neuroscience letters.Vol 274, pp. 75–78, 1999.
10.
ZadinaJEHacklerLGeLJKastinAJ. potentAand selective endogenous agonist for the μ-opiate receptor. Nature.Vol 386, pp. 499–501, 1997.
11.
ChavkinCJamesIFGoldsteinA.Dynorphin is a specific endogenous ligend of the K-opioid receptor. Science.Vol 215, pp. 413–415, 1982.
12.
Bigliardi-QiMGaveriaux-RuffCPfaltzKBadyPBaumannTRufliT. Deletion of mu- and kappa-opioid receptors in mice changes epidermal hypertrophy, density of peripheral nerve endings, and itch behavior. The Journal of investigative dermatology.Vol 127, pp. 1479–1488, 2007.
13.
ThomasDAWilliamsGMIwataKKenshaloDRDubnerR.Multiple effect of morphine on facial scratching in monkeys. Anesthesia and analgesia.Vol 77, pp. 933–935, 1993.
14.
BergasaNVAllingDWTalotTLWeelsMCJonesEA. Oral nalmefene therapy reduces scratching activity due to the pruritus of cholestasis: a controlled study. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.Vol 41, pp. 431–434, 1999.
15.
KoMCLeeHSongMSSobczyk-KojiroKMosbergHIKishiokaSWoodsJHNaughtonNN. Activation of kappa-opioid receptors inhibits pruritus evoked by subcutaneous or intrathecal administration of morphine in monkeys. The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics.Vol 305, pp. 173–179, 2003.
16.
TogashiYUmeuchiHOkanoKAndoNYoshizawaYHondaTKawamuraKEndohTUtsumiJKameiJTanakaTNagaseH.Antipruritic activity of the kappa-opioid receptor agonist, TRK-820. European journal of pharmacology.Vol 435, pp. 259–264, 2002.
17.
UmcuchiHTogashiYHondaTNakaoKOkanoKTanakaTNagaseH.Involvement of central μ-opioid system in the scratching behavior in mice, and the suppression of it by the activation of K-opioid system. European journal of pharmacology.Vol 477, pp. 29–35, 2003.
18.
NojimaHCarstensE.Quantitative assessment of directed hind limb scratching behavior as a rodent itch model. Journal of neuroscience methods.Vol 126, pp. 137–143, 2003.
19.
InagakiNNagaoMIgetaKKawasakiHKimJFNagaiH.Scratching behavior in various strains of mice. Skin pharmacology and applied skin physiology.Vol 14, pp. 87–96, 2001.
20.
ThomsenJSPetersenMBBenfeldtEJensenSBScrapJ.Scratch induction in the rat by intradermal serotonin: a model for pruritus. Acta dermato-venereologica.Vol 81, pp. 250–254, 2001.
21.
JinksSLCarstensE.Response of superficial dorsal horn neurons to intradermal serotonin and other irritants: comparison with scratching behavior. Journal of neurophysiology.Vol 87, pp. 1280–1289,2002.
22.
LundebergTBondessonLThomasM.Effect of acupuncture on experimentally induced itch. The British journal of dermatology.Vol 117, pp. 771–777, 1987.
23.
YinCSJeongHSParkHJBaikYYoonMHChoiCBKohHG. A proposed transpositional acupoint system in a mouse and rat model. Research in veterinary science.Vol 84, 159–65,2008.
24.
OmuraY. Basic Electrical Parameters for Safe and Effective Electro-Therapeutics [ElectroAcupuncture, TES, TENMS (or TEMS), TENS, and Electro-Magnetic Field Stimulation with of without Drag Field] for Pain, Neuromuscular SkeletalProblems, and Circulatory Disturbances. Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research, the International Journal.Vol 12, pp. 201–225, 1987.
25.
TakahashiYNakajimaY.Dermatomes in the rat limbs as determined by antidromic stimulation of sensory C-fibers in spinal nerves. Pain.Vol 67, pp. 197–202, 1996.
26.
WeidenhammerWLindeKStrongAHoppeAMelchartD.Acupuncture for chronic low back pain in routine care: a multicenter observational study. The Clinical journal of pain.Vol 23, pp. 128–135, 2007.
27.
Stener-VictorinEKrasc-SmidjeCJungK.Comparison between electro-acupuncture and hydrotherapy, both in combination with patient education and patient education alone, on the symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis of the hip. The Clinical journal of pain.Vol 20, pp.179–185, 2004.
28.
Chc-YiCWenCYMin-TsungKChiu-ChingH.Acupuncture in haemodialysis patients at the Quchi (LI 11) acupoint for refractory uraemic pruritus. Nephrology, dialysis, transplantation.Vol 20, pp. 1912–1915, 2005.
29.
PfabFHammesMBackerMHuss-MarpJ. Preventive effect of acupuncture on histamine-induced itch: a blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. The Journal of allergy and clinical immunology.Vol 116, pp. 1386–1388, 2005.
30.
StanderSSchmelzM.Chronic itch and pain-similarities and differences. European journal of pain.Vol 10, pp. 473–478, 2006.
31.
IkomaASteinhoffMStanderSYosipovitchGSchmelzM.The neurobiology of itch. Nature reviews. Neuroscience.Vol 7, pp. 535–547, 2006.
32.
BrommBSchareinEDarsowURingJ.Effects of menthol and cold on histamine-induced itch and skin reactions in man. Neuroscience letters.Vol 187, pp. 157–160, 1995.
33.
BrailSJAtanassoffPGSilvermanDGZhangJLamotteRH. Attenuation of experimental pruritus and mechanically evoked dysesthesiae in an area of cutaneous allodynia. Somatosensory & motor research.Vol 16, pp. 299–303, 1999.
34.
TohadaCYamaguchiTKuraishiY.Intracistemal injection of opioids induces itch-associated response through mu-opioid receptor in mice. Japanese journal of pharmacology.Vol 74, pp. 77–82, 1997.
35.
MonroeEW. Efficacy and safety of nalmefene in patients with severe pruritus caused by chronic urticaria and atopic dermatitis. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. Vol 21, pp. 135–136, 1989.
36.
KameiJNagaseH.Norbinaltorphimine, a selective K-opioid receptor antagonist, induces an itch-associated response in mice. European journal of pharmacology.Vol. 418, pp. 141–145, 2001.
37.
DawnAGYosipovitchGButorphanol for treatment of intractable pruritus. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.Vol 54, pp. 527–531, 2006.
38.
HanJS. Acupuncture and endorphins. Neuroscience letters.Vol 361, pp. 258–261, 2004.
