Electroacupuncture may alleviate inflammatory pain by inhibiting the expression of P2RY14 in the primary somatosensory cortex

Abstract Electroacupuncture (EA) has been successfully used to treat painful conditions. However, its analgesic mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, we established a Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain model. After CFA injection, P2RY₁₄ was upregulated in primary somatosensory cortex of hindlimb (S1HL). EA, not sham EA, alleviated the nociceptive thermal hyperalgesia and reduced the upregulation of P2RY₁₄ of CFA mice. Injection of P2RY₁₄ agonist uridine diphosphate glucose (UDPG) into bilateral S1HL reversed EA-induced analgesia. Our results demonstrate that EA-induced analgesia of CFA-induced pain can be achieved by downregulation of P2RY₁₄ in the S1HL.