Adenosine May be Missing Link to Explain Acupuncture Pain Relief

A new advanced online article published May 20, 2010 in the Nature Neuroscience journal is shedding some light on how acupuncture may work to relieve pain.

The article "Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture" written by researchers at the Center for Translational Neuromedicine, University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, N.Y.;  Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, US National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland have demonstrated that the neurotransmitter Adenosine may be the missing link in explaining how acupuncture needles relieve pain. Adenosine is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, a neuromodulator with anti-nociceptive (pain) properties.

The Findings

Using a variety of different studies in mice, these researchers found that adenosine was released during acupuncture in mice and that its anti-nociceptive actions required adenosine A1 receptor expression. In one study direct injection of an adenosine A1 receptor agonist replicated the analgesic effect of acupuncture. In another, inhibition of enzymes involved in adenosine degradation potentiated the acupuncture-elicited increase in adenosine, as well as its anti-nociceptive (pain relieving) effect.

Their findings indicate that adenosine is the neurotransmitter responsible for the effects of acupuncture. Furthermore they discovered that interfering with adenosine metabolism (through inhibition of enzymes or other mechanisms) may help to prolong the clinical benefit of acupuncture.


Sources:

Nanna Goldman, Michael Chen, Takumi Fujita, Qiwu Xu, Weiguo Peng, Wei Liu, Tina K Jensen, Yong Pei, Fushun Wang, Xiaoning Han, Jiang-Fan Chen, Jurgen Schnermann, Takahiro Takano, Lane Bekar, Kim Tieu & Maiken Nedergaard. (2010) Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture. Nature Neuroscience. doi:10.1038/nn.2562. Published online 30 May 2010.

Emily Shon. May 31, 2010. Acupuncture Releases Natural Painkiller. Discovery News.

Karen Hopkin. May 30, 2010. Mechanism Points To Acupuncture Pain Relief. Scientific American Podcast Transcript.

Image: Thunderchild. Acupuncture Model. Creative Commons.