Manual Acupuncture Eases Arthritis Pain by Blocking Spinal Inflammation
MANUAL ACUPUNCTURE (MA) alleviates rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pain by targeting spinal microglia activation and inhibiting NF-κB/STAT3 signaling pathways -key regulators of immune response and inflammation- according to new study in a rat model.
Researchers found that MA enhanced paw withdrawal latency (PWL), a behavioral measure to assess pain in animals, reduced inflammatory factors (IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6) in the spinal dorsal horn, and down-regulated NF-kB/STAT3 pathway proteins, outperforming simple needling acupuncture and directly linking the technique’s biomechanical stimulation to suppressed neuroinflammation.
Acupuncture’s Mechanical Stimulation Linked to NF-κB/STAT3
RA remains challenging to manage, and current therapies are often insufficient against central sensitization driven by spinal neuroinflammation. This study addresses that gap by demonstrating novel pre-clinical evidence that MA is superior over simple needling acupuncture in complete Freund’s adjuvant rats, where MA increased PWL, reduced IL-1β/TNF-α/IL-6 mRNA, and lowered p-NF-κB-p65/p-STAT3 protein expression in spinal dorsal horn tissue.
Researchers induced RA in rats using complete Freund’s adjuvant, followed by MA treatments with or without twirling manipulation at the key acupoints. Arthritis severity and pain were evaluated using PWL, nociceptive threshold, and hematoxylin and eosin. Inflammatory factors in the spinal dorsal horn were quantified via quantitative reverse transcription-PCR. To assess the expression of p-p38 and Iba-1, immunofluorescence was used in the ipsilateral hippocampus and ipsilateral (right) dorsal root ganglia. Western blot analysis measured proteins in the NF-κB/STAT3 signaling pathway, confirming pathway inhibition as the mechanism behind reduced spinal microglia activation.
MA is a widely used pain relief modality in China and is increasingly acceptable in Western practice. This study demonstrates that MA shows superiority over simple needling acupuncture for RA pain as it inhibits the spinal microglia activation via NF-κB/STAT3 pathway. By clarifying how twirling manipulation optimizes this anti-neuroinflammatory effect, the findings elevate MA from empirical therapy to a molecularly validated adjunct, enhancing RA pain management.
Reference
Zhang Q, Wang Y. Inhibition of the NF-κB/STAT3 pathway to reduce spinal microglia activation: a mechanism by which manual acupuncture alleviates rheumatoid arthritis. Neurosci Lett. 2026;138560.
Featured image: clearjade on Adobe Stock
