应用免疫细胞化学

我们曾研究针刺对大鼠脊髓内 P 物质和甲硫氨酸脑啡肽的作用。由于这些肽类牵涉到脊髓痛的传导过程。亦即 P 物质在感受伤害中起作用;鸦片受体立体特异性结合的脑啡肽具有镇痛的作用。我们应用大鼠研究的资料表明:针刺就像应用吗啡那样

可使脊髓后角胶状质神经元内的 P 物质增加。而针刺后甲硫氨酸脑啡肽根据抗血清的不同而出现不同程度的降低

我们理解为:针刺可使鸦片样肽、脑啡肽释放

阻滞也可邻近的突起梢 P 物质的释放

根据现行脊髓痛觉传导过程的假说

脑啡肽神经元可与 P 物质神经元的末Using immunocytochemistry

we have investigated the effect of acu- puncture on substance P and rnethionine enkephalins in the rat spinal cord.These peptides are thought to be involved in spinal pain processing. That is

substance P has a role in nociception

and the enkephalins

which bind stereospecifically to opiate receptors

have a role in analgesia. Using rats

our data indicate that acupuncture

like morphine treatment

results in the increase of intraneuronal substance P in the substantia gelatinosa of the dorsal spinal cord.Whereas methionine enkephalin shows variable reductions depending on the antisera species.We have interpreted our data to mean that acupuncture may cause the release of the opiod peptide enkephalin

and may also block the release of substance P from near processes.According to current hypotheses of spinal pain pro- cessing

enlkephalin neurons may synapse with the preterminal endings of substance P neurons and thereby regulate the release of the latter thro- ugh an interaction with the opiate receptor.Therefore

it is conceivable that acupuncture first causes the release of enkephalin which subsequently blocks the release of substance P(SP) by binding to the preterminal opiate receptors on SP afferents.