Altered Brain Functional and Effective Connectivity Induced by Electroacupuncture in Rats Following Anterior Cruciate Ligament Transection

The chronic pain arising from knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent clinical manifestation. As a traditional Chinese approach, electroacupuncture (EA) has a positive influence in relieving chronic pain from KOA. The study aims to explore functional connectivity (FC) and effective connectivity (EC...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pain research 2024-01, Vol.17, p.2495-2505
Main Authors: Lu, Hao-Yu, Wu, Jia-Jia, Shen, Jun, Xing, Xiang-Xin, Hua, Xu-Yun, Zheng, Mou-Xiong, Xiao, Lian-Bo, Xu, Jian-Guang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acupuncture
anterior cruciate ligament transection
Care and treatment
Chronic pain
effective connectivity
electroacupuncture
functional connectivity
knee osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis
Pain
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Summary:The chronic pain arising from knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a prevalent clinical manifestation. As a traditional Chinese approach, electroacupuncture (EA) has a positive influence in relieving chronic pain from KOA. The study aims to explore functional connectivity (FC) and effective connectivity (EC) alterations induced by EA in anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACLT) rat model of KOA using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). After the establishment of ACLT, rats were randomly divided into the EA group and the sham-EA group. The EA group received EA intervention while the sham-EA group received sham-intervention for 3 weeks. Mechanical pain threshold (MPT) assessment was performed before and after intervention, and fMRI was conducted after intervention. EA intervention effectively relieved pain in post-ACLT rats. Results of rest-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) analysis revealed that compared with the sham-EA group, the EA group had higher FC between the right raphe and the left auditory cortex, the left caudate_ putamen and the left internal capsule (IC), as well as the right zona incerta (ZI) and the left piriform cortex, but lower FC between the right raphe and the left hippocampus ventral, as well as the right septum and the left septum. Furthermore, Granger causality analysis (GCA) found the altered EC between the right septum and the left septum, as well as the left IC and the right septum. The results confirmed the effect of EA on analgesia in post- ACLT rats. The alterations of FC and EC, mainly involving basal ganglia and limbic system neural connections, might be one of the neural mechanisms underlying the effect of EA, providing novel information about connectomics plasticity of EA following ACLT.
ISSN:1178-7090
1178-7090
DOI:10.2147/JPR.S465983