Zhongguo Yao Li Xue Bao. 1995 May; 16(3): 201-4.

Preproenkephalin mRNA enhanced by combination of droperidol with electroacupuncture.

Zhu CB, Li XY, Zhu YH, Xu SF.

Department of Neurobiology, Shanghai Medical University, China.

AIM: To study the expression of preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA following electroacupuncture (EA) combined with droperidol (Dro), an antagonist of dopamine receptors. METHOD: The brains of Sprague-Dawley rats were sectioned after combination of EA with Dro and nonradioactive in situ hybridization histochemistry (ISHH) technic was used. RESULTS: Ten hours after EA, the expression of PPE mRNA was enhanced; when EA was combined with Dro, the expression of PPE mRNA was further enhanced in many pain-modulation-related nuclei, such as caudate-putamen, accumbens, septal nucleus, diagonal band nucleus, amygdala, hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray (PAG), interpeduncular nucleus, substantia nigra, and the dorsal horn of spinal cord (layer I-II and III-IV). CONCLUSION: Dro promoted EA's action on the PPE mRNA expression, which underlie the mechanisms of Dro potentiation on acupuncture analgesia.