Electroacupuncture may reduce inflammatory pain aversion by reshaping amygdala proteins involved in energy metabolism, glutamate signalling, and neural plasticity.
Male rats received an inflammatory injection into one hind paw to induce pain and learned avoidance of a pain-associated environment. They then underwent conditioned place aversion testing, while one treatment group received two weeks of low-frequency electroacupuncture at bilateral leg acupuncture points. Researchers analysed amygdala protein expression using quantitative mass spectrometry and confirmed selected protein changes with additional laboratory testing.
Electroacupuncture improved pain sensitivity and was associated with broad changes in amygdala protein expression relative to untreated pain-aversion animals. The most notable validated changes involved glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutamate transporter one, and p21-activated kinase six, suggesting that electroacupuncture may influence pain-related avoidance through metabolic regulation, glutamate handling, and synaptic signalling within the amygdala.
