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

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, P2RY ₁₄ was upregulated in primary somatosensory cortex of hindlimb (S1HL). EA, not sham EA, alleviated the nociceptive thermal hyperalgesia and reduced the upregulation of P2RY ₁₄ of CFA mice. Injection of P2RY ₁₄ 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 P2RY ₁₄ in the S1HL.