ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1563626
This article is part of the Research TopicExploring the Biology of Inflammasomes: Mechanisms, Disorders, and Therapeutic PotentialView all articles
Effects of Low-Frequency and High-Frequency Electroacupuncture Pretreatment on the COX-2/mPGES-1/PGE2 Pathway in a Rat Model of Cold-Coagulation Dysmenorrhea
Provisionally accepted
- Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Primary dysmenorrhea (PD) refers to a condition in which women experience cyclic lower abdominal pain, often accompanied by lower back pain, and even severe pain and fainting around menstruation, significantly affecting daily activities and work. Inflammatory factors such as prostaglandins PGF2α, PGE2, and COX-2 play key roles in the pathological mechanisms of PD. Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and hormonal contraceptives are the first-line treatments for dysmenorrhea; however, they have significant side effects. Electroacupuncture, as a non-invasive and effective therapeutic method, is widely used as a complementary and alternative treatment, although its mechanism of action remains unclear. Methods: A cold-coagulation type dysmenorrhea model was established in rats, which were divided into the control group, model group, low-frequency electroacupuncture group (2/10 Hz), and high-frequency electroacupuncture group (20/100 Hz). Behavioral writhing responses, organ indices, uterine tissue morphology changes, and levels of PGF2α, PGE2, COX-2, and other inflammatory markers were measured to evaluate the effects of the treatments. Results: Both the low-frequency electroacupuncture group and the high-frequency electroacupuncture group significantly reduced writhing scores, increased spleen index, decreased prostaglandin PGF2α and COX-2 levels, and increased prostaglandin PGE2 and β-EP levels to varying degrees. Discussion: Both low-frequency and high-frequency electroacupuncture exert their anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects by activating the COX-2/mPGES-1/PGE2 pathway and mediating the increased release of the opioid peptide β-EP, which alleviates inflammatory pain. Both treatments achieve the therapeutic goal of treating PD, with high-frequency electroacupuncture demonstrating superior anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects compared to low-frequency electroacupuncture.
Keywords: Low-frequency electroacupuncture, High-frequency electroacupuncture, Dysmenorrhea, β-EP, COX-2/mPGES-1/PGE2 pathway
Received: 20 Jan 2025; Accepted: 16 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Song, Ni, Yuan, Zhang, Wang and Xiong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yue Song, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
Jinxia Ni, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.