Strong Manual Acupuncture Stimulation of “Huantiao” (GB 30) Reduces Pain-Induced Anxiety and p-ERK in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in a Rat Model of Neuropathic Pain

Figure 3

Immunohistochemical ((a)–(f)) and immunoblot ((g)-(h)) analysis of the effect of EA, mMA, and sMA stimulation on p-ERK1/2 protein expression in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) after L5 spinal nerve ligation. ((a)–(e)) Expression of p-ERK in the ACC (scale bar = 50 μm; cortical laminae represented by roman numerals); (f) quantification of p-ERK-immunoreactive (IR) cells in the ACC (, ); ((g)-(h)) representative blots from ACC homogenates and p-ERK quantification (equal loading was verified by assaying ERK1/2) (, , , and , resp.). Histogram bars represent the mean ± SEM of 5 animals per group. , versus control group; versus SNL group.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)