Effect of acupotomy dissolution on pain threshold and ENK and β-EP in spinal cord and hypothalamus in rats with transverse syndrome of the third lumbar vertebrae

Objective To observe the changes of pain threshold and ENK and β-EP contents in the spinal cord and the hypothalamus, and to study the central analgesic effect of acupotomy dissolution in rats with transverse syndrome of the third lumbar vertebrae.Methods Twenty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group,model control group, acupotomy dissolution group and electroacupunture(EA) group, with 7 cases in each group. Model was established by operation. Acupotomy dissolution was applied twice, EA was applied six times. Radiation heat stimulation was applied to the rat tail and the pain threshold(PT) was detected by tail flick latency test. The test would be done 9 times. ENK and β-EP contents in spinal cord and the hypothalamus were detected with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) on day 28.Results In the model group, the pain threshold values were lower than in the normal group and ENK and β-EP contents in the spinal cord and the hypothalamus were increased significantly (P0.01). In the acupotomy dissolution group and EA group, the pain threshold values were higher than in the model control group, and ENK and β-EP contents in the spinal cord and the hypothalamus were decreased significantly(P0.01). ENK and β-EP contents in the acupotomy dissolution group were closer to those in the normal control group than in the EA group(P0.05).Conclution Acupotomy dissolution and EA can raise the pain threshold value by adjusting ENK andβ-EP of central nervous system.Acupotomy dissolution was more effective.