Electroacupuncture reduced migraine-like facial pain in rats by suppressing immune-cell-driven inflammation within a brainstem pain-processing region.
Researchers created recurrent migraine-like pain in rats through repeated electrical stimulation of the dura mater, then administered electroacupuncture at a neck acupuncture point across multiple treatment sessions. They measured facial sensitivity to mechanical stimulation and assessed activation of microglia, inflammatory signalling molecules, their receptors, and neuronal activity in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis using tissue staining, protein analysis, and gene-expression methods. They also tested a drug that inhibits microglial activation to compare its effects with electroacupuncture.
Electroacupuncture increased facial mechanical pain thresholds, indicating reduced pain sensitivity, while decreasing microglial activation and inflammatory signalling in the trigeminal nucleus caudalis. Blocking microglia pharmacologically produced similar reductions in pain sensitivity, inflammatory factors, and neuronal activation, supporting microglial suppression as a key mechanism through which electroacupuncture may reduce migraine-related central sensitization.
