Journal
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY AND PHARMACOLOGY
Volume 90, Issue 11, Pages 1479-1489Publisher
CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING
DOI: 10.1139/y2012-130
Keywords
electroacupuncture; nociception; inflammation; zymosan; TMJ; endocannabinoid system
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Electroacupuncture (EA) and cannabinoids have been reported to have anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects in animal models of arthritis. Male Wistar rats were injected with saline or zymosan (2 mg) into the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). EA (10 Hz, 30 min) was performed 2 h after or 1 h before zymosan administration. AM251 or AM630 (3 mg/kg, i.p.) were administered before EA treatment. Mechanical hypernociception was accessed after zymosan administration. Rats were sacrificed 6 h after zymosan administration and the joint was removed for histopathological analysis. The gene expression of CB1 and CB2 receptors was assessed after sacrifice of the TMJ arthritic animals. EA inhibited zymosan-induced hypernociception (p < 0.05). AM251 reversed significantly the antinociceptive effect of EA, suggesting that the CB1 receptor is involved in this effect. AM630 reversed the anti-inflammatory effect of EA. CB1 and CB2 receptor gene expression was upregulated 6 h after zymosan-induced arthritis in the EA-treated group. We observed downregulation of CB2 receptor gene expression in the EA group at the 24th hour compared with the 6th hour. Higher CB1 receptor gene expression was also found compared with the 6th hour. EA produced antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects, and these effects appeared to be mediated through CB1 and CB2 receptor activation.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available