Electroacupuncture applied to both knees may restore injured knee sensory function by activating nerve-repair pathways linking the knee ligament and spinal sensory neurons.
Researchers created a one-sided anterior cruciate ligament injury model in cynomolgus monkeys and assigned them to injured-knee electroacupuncture, both-knee electroacupuncture, injury-only, or uninjured control groups. Electroacupuncture was applied at points surrounding the knee joints. They assessed nerve-repair activity in spinal sensory ganglia and ligament tissue using gene and protein expression analyses, and evaluated sensory and motor nerve function through electrophysiological recordings.
Electroacupuncture increased markers associated with nerve growth and regeneration in the injured ligament and sensory neurons, while improving measures of sensory signal transmission and motor nerve conduction. The findings suggest that treatment of the injured knee, including stimulation of both knees, may support recovery of knee position sensing by enhancing a neurotrophin signalling pathway involved in nerve repair.
