Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common stress-related gastrointestinal disorder and visceral hypersensitivity (VH) is characteristically found in IBS patients. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) applied to certain acupoints has been shown to benefit IBS patients. Here, we investigated whether nonspecific acupoint is involved in the efficacy of TENS treatment for IBS. Twenty-five male rats were randomly assigned to four experimental groups and one sham-control group. The four experimental groups were defined as TENS-RR, TENS-RL, TENS-LR, and TENS-LL based on the location of the two TENS patches [right (R) or left (L)]. The former and latter letter pairs indicate that the patch locations were the upper chest and upper back, respectively. The heterotypic intermittent stress (HIS) protocol was performed for 16 days. VH was assessed by electromyography to evaluate response to rectal distention (RD). Modulated medium-frequency TENS, sweep range 1-10 Hz, amplitude slightly above the supra motor threshold, was applied 30 min per day followed by RD every second day for the final 7 days of the 16-day HIS period. VH was induced after the rats had been subjected to HIS for 10 days. A significant reduction of VH was observed only in the TENS-LL group compared with that in the sham-control group. These data suggest that repeated TENS treatment can alleviate stress-induced VH in rats. Further, whether TENS patches are attached to the left or right side of the body, which are nonspecific acupoints for gastrointestinal functions, may be an important factor in the treatment of stress-associated gastrointestinal symptoms.

中文翻译：

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反复经皮神经电刺激上身非特异性穴位减轻大鼠应激性内脏超敏反应

肠易激综合征 (IBS) 是一种常见的压力相关胃肠道疾病，内脏超敏反应 (VH) 是 IBS 患者的特征性表现。经皮神经电刺激 (TENS) 应用于某些穴位已被证明对 IBS 患者有益。在这里，我们调查了非特异性穴位是否与 TENS 治疗 IBS 的疗效有关。25 只雄性大鼠被随机分配到四个实验组和一个假对照组。根据两个 TENS 贴片的位置 [右 (R) 或左 (L)]，将四个实验组定义为 TENS-RR、TENS-RL、TENS-LR 和 TENS-LL。前、后字母对表示贴片位置分别为上胸部和上背部。异型间歇性压力 (HIS) 协议进行了 16 天。通过肌电图评估 VH 以评估对直肠扩张 (RD) 的反应。调制的中频 TENS，扫描范围 1-10 Hz，振幅略高于超运动阈值，每天应用 30 分钟，然后在 16 天 HIS 期间的最后 7 天每隔一天应用 RD。在大鼠接受 HIS 10 天后诱导 VH。与假对照组相比，仅在 TENS-LL 组中观察到 VH 显着降低。这些数据表明重复 TENS 治疗可以减轻大鼠应激诱导的 VH。此外，TENS贴片是否贴在身体左侧或右侧，这是胃肠功能的非特异性穴位，可能是治疗压力相关胃肠道症状的重要因素。