The sub-convulsive dose of picrotoxin (average dose 0.7mg/kg body wt.

i. v.)

and the stimula-tion of unilateral acupuncture points "Shenshu" "Liangqiu" raised the pain threshold of the rabbit's digital webs respectively about 30% higher than that of the control (39±7%

34±6% respectively).While acupuncture was combined with a sub-convulsive dose of picrotoxin

the analgesic effect wasstrengthened about fourfolds more powerful than in the drug control or acupuncture alone. This wasstatistically significant. The post-effects of the combination treatment were also augmented and prolongedsignificantly. The synergism of picrotoxin with acupuncture upon analgesia suggests that r-aminobutyric acidwould play an important role in the underlying mechanism of acupuncture anesthesia

and that thismechanism is certainly not just simple inhibition.