Antihistamine promotes electroacupuncture analgesia in healthy human subjects: A pilot study

Yu-Chen Lee; Cheng-Hao Tu; Hsin-Yi Chung; Sih-Ting Luo; Yu-Ting Chu; Iona J MacDonald; Peddanna Kotha; Chien-Chen Huang; Hsien-Yuan Lane; Jaung-Geng Lin; Yi-Hung Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2022.04.003

Antihistamine promotes electroacupuncture analgesia in healthy human subjects: A pilot study

J Tradit Complement Med. 2022 Apr 21;12(5):511-517. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2022.04.003. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Yu-Chen Lee^{1

2}, Cheng-Hao Tu³, Hsin-Yi Chung³, Sih-Ting Luo³, Yu-Ting Chu³, Iona J MacDonald³, Peddanna Kotha³, Chien-Chen Huang⁴, Hsien-Yuan Lane^{5

6}, Jaung-Geng Lin¹, Yi-Hung Chen^{3

7

8}

Affiliations

¹ School of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, No. 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan, ROC.
² Department of Acupuncture, China Medical University Hospital, No. 2, Yude Road, Taichung, 404332, Taiwan, ROC.
³ Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, No. 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan, ROC.
⁴ Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, An Nan Hospital, China Medical University, No.66, Sec. 2, Changhe Road, Tainan, 709204, Taiwan, ROC.
⁵ Graduate Institute of Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, No. 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan, ROC.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, No. 2, Yude Road, Taichung, 404332, Taiwan, ROC.
⁷ Chinese Medicine Research Center, China Medical University, No. 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung, 40402, Taiwan, ROC.
⁸ Department of Photonics and Communication Engineering, Asia University, No. 500, Lioufeng Road, Wufeng, Taichung, 41354, Taiwan, ROC.

Abstract

Background and aim: We have previously reported that histamine H₁ receptor antagonists facilitate electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia in experimental animals. In this pilot study, we sought to determine whether the histamine H₁ receptor antagonist dexchlorpheniramine (DCPA) facilitates EA analgesia in healthy human subjects.

Experimental procedure: Forty healthy subjects aged 20-30 years were randomly allocated to 1 of 4 groups: (1) sham EA at acupoints Zusanli (ST36) and Yanglingquan (GB34) (sham EA; n = 10); (2) EA at ST36 and GB34 (n = 10); (3) EA at ST36 and GB34 plus low-dose DCPA (2 mg, n = 10); (4) EA at ST36 and GB34 plus high-dose DCPA (4 mg, n = 10). Before and after acupuncture treatment, pain thresholds were determined by transcutaneous electrical stimuli on the glabrous skin of the left upper arm.

Results: After the acupuncture session, subjects in the EA plus high-dose DCPA group had a significantly higher pain threshold elevation compared with the other 3 study groups. The change from baseline in pain threshold in the EA plus high-dose DCPA group was significantly greater than the change in pain threshold with EA only, indicating that DCPA 4 mg facilitated EA analgesia.

Conclusion: The results suggest that combining H₁ receptor antagonist treatment with EA appears to relieve pain to a greater extent compared with EA alone. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/), number NCT03805035 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03805035).

Keywords: Dexchlorpheniramine; Electroacupuncture; H1 receptor antagonists; Pain threshold; Pilot study.

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT03805035