TABLE 1.

Regulation of the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of acupuncture.

Inflammatory pain model	Species	Intervention methods	Acupoints	Parameters used for acupuncture	Pain measurement	Test site Site + Mechanism	References
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36, SP6	2/100 Hz at 2 mA for 20 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Paw tissue:IL-10↑, IL-1β↓, NLRP3↓, TNF-α↓ Spleen: Macrophages↓, Neutrophils↓	Yu et al., 2020
CFA	Rat	MA	ST36	Twisting (3 spins per second) for 2 min, followed by a 5-min retention period; total duration, 28 min	Thermal pain	Joints: IL-1β↓, IL-6↓, TNF-α↓ Serum:IL-1α↑, IL-1β↑, IL-6↑, IL-7↑, IL-18↑, TNF-α↑	Xu et al., 2018
POI	Mouse	EA	ST36	10 Hz at 1 mA for 20 min	–	TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, CD45 + CD11b +↓	Yang et al., 2021
KOA	Rat	MA	ST35, ST36	Twisting (2 spins per second) for 1 min, followed by a 4-min retention; repeated 6 times; total duration, 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	IL-1β↓, TNF-a↓, NGFs↓	Li et al., 2020
CFA	Rat	EA	GB30	100 Hz at 2, 2.5, and 3 mA for 20 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Inflamed paw: IFN-γ↑, CXCL10↑	Wang et al., 2014
MIA	Mouse	EA	Ex-LE4, ST35	2 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Menisci: CB2↑, IL-1β↓	Yuan et al., 2018a
CFA	Rat	EA	GB30, GB34	2 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Inflamed skin tissues: NLRP3↓	Gao et al., 2018
IBD	Mouse	EA	BL25	2 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia	Colon: SP↓, IL-1β↓, A1R↑, A2aR↑, A3R↑, A2bR↓	Hou et al., 2019
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36	2 Hz at 1 mA for 15 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	DRG, SCDH: GFAP↓, Iba-1↓, S100B↓, RAGE↓, TRPV1↓	Liao et al., 2017
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36	2 Hz at 1 mA for 20 min	Mechanical allodynia	DRG: ASIC3↓	Chen et al., 2011
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36, BL60	2, 100, and 2/100 Hz at 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mA for 20, 30, and 45 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	DRG: TRPV1↓, P2 × 3↓	Fang et al., 2018
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36, BL60	100 Hz at 0.5/1.5 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia	DRG, SCDH: P2 × 3↓	Xiang et al., 2019
Inflammatory muscle pain	Mouse	MA	SP6	Insertion depth of about 2–3 mm, rotated slowly for 10 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Muscles: IL-10↑, M1 macrophages↓, M2 macrophages↑	da Silva et al., 2015
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36	2 Hz at 1 mA for 15 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	DRG, spinal cord, and thalamus: TLR2↓, pPI3K↓, pAkt↓, pmTOR↓, pERK↓, pp38↓, pJNK↓, pCREB↓, pNFκB↓, Nav1.7↓, Nav1.8↓	Hsu et al., 2019
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36	2 Hz at 1 mA for 20 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Cerebellum lobes V, Via, and VII: tTRPV1↓, Nav1.7↓, Nav1.8↓, ASIC3↓, pmTOR↓, pPI3K↓, pAkt↓, Perk↓, RAGE↓, pPKAII α↓, pPKC ε↓, pNF κ B↓, Pcreb↓, S100B↓	Inprasit and Lin, 2020
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36	2 Hz at 1–2 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Spinal cord: CX3CL1↓, p38 MAPK↓, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓, TNF-α↓	Li et al., 2019
Neck-incision pain	Rat	EA	LI18, LI4, PC6, ST36, GB34	2/100 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Thermal pain	Cervical spinal cord: ATP↑, P2 × 7R/fractalkine/CX3CR1↓	Gao et al., 2017
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36, SP6	2/15 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Spinal cord: Ica1↑, ICA69↑, ICA69-PICK1↑, PICK1-GluR2↓	Han et al., 2019
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36, SP6	2 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Thermal pain	Spinal cord: GluR2↓	Lee et al., 2013
CFA	Rat	EA	GB30	10 Hz at 3 mA for 20 min	Thermal pain	Spinal cord: Use of 5,7-DHT, 5-HT1AR antagonist and 5-HT2CR antagonist affects acupuncture effect	Zhang et al., 2011c
CIOA	Rat	EA	ST36	2/100 Hz at 0.07 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Use of 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3, muscarinic cholinergic receptor agonist and 5-HT1, 5-HT2, 5-HT3 and muscarinic cholinergic receptors antagonists affects acupuncture effect	Seo et al., 2016
CFA	Rat	EA	GB30	10/100 Hz at 2 mA for 30 min	Thermal pain	RVM: Use of μ, κ-opioid receptor antagonist affects acupuncture effect	Zhang et al., 2011b
MIA	Mouse	EA	Ex-LE4, ST35	2/15/100 Hz at 1/0.1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Midbrain: CB1 receptors↑, 2-AG↑; medulla: 5-HT↑	Yuan et al., 2018b
MIA	Mouse	EA	Ex-LE4, ST35	2 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	vlPAG: CB1↑, glutamatergic neurons↑, GABAergic neurons↓	Zhu et al., 2019
MSU	Rat	EA	ST36, BL60	Square wave 0.2 ms at 1–2 mA (each intensity for 15 min; total duration, 30 min)	Ongoing pain score evaluation, mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Local ankle skin tissue: β-endorphin↑	Chai et al., 2018
CFA	Mouse	EA	ST36, ST37	2 Hz at 1 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia	DRG: Nav sodium currents↓, TRPV1↓	Lu et al., 2016
CFA	Rat	EA	GB30	10 Hz at 3 mA for 20 min	Conditioned place avoidance test	ACC: Use of a selective κ-opioid receptor antagonist affects acupuncture effect	Zhang et al., 2012a
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36, BL60	2/100 Hz at 0.5–1.5 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia	ACC: p-PKMzeta↓, GluR1↓	Du et al., 2017
CFA	Rat	MA	ST36	Twisting (3 spins per second, bi-directionally) for 2 min, followed by a 5-min retention period; total duration, 28 min	Thermal pain	Acupoint: NFκB p-p65↑, NFκB p-p50↑	Zhang et al., 2020c
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36, BL60	0.5–1.5 mA for 30 min	Mechanical allodynia, thermal pain	Acupoint: adenosine↑; DRG: substance P↓, NK1-R↓, TNF-α↓, IL-1β↓, IL-6↓, CD68↓	Zhang et al., 2020d
CFA	Rat	MA	ST36	Twisting (3 spins per second, bi-directionally) for 2 min, followed by a 5-min retention period; total duration, 28 min	Thermal pain	Acupoint: MCP-1↑, CXCL1↑, MIP-1α↑, IL-1β↑, IL-6↑, GM-CSF↓, Macrophages↑	Zhang et al., 2020b
CFA	Mouse	MA	ST36	Two twists every 5 min; total duration, 30 min	Thermal pain	Acupoint: TRPV1↑, TRPV4↑, ASIC3↑	Wu et al., 2014
CFA	Rat	MA	ST36	Lift-thrusting and twisting manipulation for 30 s after 30-s intervals of retention; total duration, 30 min	Thermal pain	Acupoints: Use of histamine, histamine H1 receptor antagonist, mast cell stabilizer, affects acupuncture effect	Huang et al., 2012
CFA	Rat	EA	ST36, BL60	2/100 Hz at 1 mA for the first 15 min and at 2 mA for another 15 min; total duration, 30 min	Thermal pain	DRG, SCDH: TRPV1↓, PKCγ↓, PKCε↓	Liu et al., 2018
Inflammatory arthritis-induced pain	Rat	EA	ST36, SP9, LI4, LR3	2/100 Hz at 2 mA for 20 min	Weight-bearing behavioral tests	Acupoints: Use of opioid, adrenergic, serotonin, and dopamine receptors antagonists affects acupuncture effect	Yoo et al., 2011

POI, postoperative intestinal; CIOA, CIOA:Collagenase-induced osteoarthritis; MIA, monosodium iodoacetate; MSU, monosodiumurate; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; Iba1, ionized calcium binding adapter molecule 1; RAGE, receptor for advanced glycation end-products; PI3K, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; pAkt, phospho-protein kinasw B; pmTOR, phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin; RVM, rostral ventromedial medulla; CXCL1, The chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1; GM-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor.