Comparison of Electroacupuncture and Morphine-Mediated Analgesic Patterns in a Plantar Incision-Induced Pain Model

Figure 4

Effect of EA and morphine on ERK activation 30 minutes after PI in the lumbar (L4 or L5) spinal dorsal horns. (a)–(d) are section slices showing spinal dorsal horn at the PI-ipsilateral side in the Naïve group ((a) rats without any operation or treatment), Sham+PI group ((b) rats with PI and sham needling and saline injection), EA+PI group ((c) rats with PI and pretreated EA), and Mor+PI group ((d) rats with PI and preinjected morphine). (e) Numbers of pERK-immunoreactive cells by lamina in the spinal dorsal horn among groups. Note no differences between the EA+PI and Mor+PI groups. Laminas I-II: superficial dorsal horn, laminas III-IV: middle dorsal horn, and lamina V: deep dorsal horn. DH: dorsal horn; ∗∗∗ < 0.001 groups versus Sham+PI, one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test; for each group, respectively. Scale bar = 100 μm.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)