脊髓内催产素参与电针镇痛

<正> 催产素(Oxytocin,OT)是在下丘脑室旁核和视上核内合成的一种垂体肽类激素,除有促进排乳和使子宫收缩的作用外,它的另一些作用正日益引起人们的关注。一些研究表明,中枢神经系统内的OT在痛调制和针刺镇痛过程中发挥着一定作用,但脊髓水平的OT对电针镇痛是否发挥作用,

Involvement of oxytocin in spinal cord in acupuncture analgesia

The influence of intrathecal injection of oxytocin (OT), anti-OT serum (AOTS) and naloxone on pain threshold and electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia in rats was investigated. The tail-flick induced by potassium iontophoresis was used to measure the pain threshold. The increase in pain threshold was observed within 70 min after OT injection (100 ng), and it was much more effective than that of the ACSF injection (P less than 0.001). The OT administration could enhance the EA analgesia. This effect was of dose-related. Although injection of AOTS did not affect the pain threshold, it diminished EA analgesia. Furthermore, injection of naloxone did not influence the action of OT on EA analgesia. Our results showed that OT in spinal cord plays an important role in the EA analgesia, and its effects is independent of endogenous opiate peptides.