The pain-relieving effect of acupuncture is known to involve primary afferent nerves (PANs) via their roles in signal transmission to the CNS. Using single-unit recording in rats, we characterized the generation and transmission of electrical signals in Aβ and Aδ fibers induced by acupuncture-like stimuli. Acupuncture-like signals were elicited in PANs using three techniques: manual acupuncture (MAc), emulated acupuncture (EAc), and electro-acupuncture (EA)-like peripheral electrical stimulation (PES). The discharges evoked by MAc and EAc were mostly in a burst pattern with average intra-burst and inter-burst firing rates of 90 Hz and 2 Hz, respectively. The frequency of discharges in PANs was correlated with the frequency of PES. The highest discharge frequency was 246 Hz in Aβ fibers and 180 Hz in Aδ fibers. Therefore, EA in a dense-disperse mode (at alternating frequency between 2 Hz and 15 Hz or between 2 Hz and 100 Hz) best mimics MAc. Frequencies of EA output >250 Hz appear to be obsolete for pain relief.

中文翻译：

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初级传入纤维对不同频率下针刺样外周刺激的反应：大鼠单单元记录的表征。

针刺镇痛效果被称为涉及初级传入神经（PAN）的通过它们在向 CNS 传输信号中的作用。在大鼠中使用单单元记录，我们表征了由针刺样刺激诱导的 Aβ 和 Aδ 纤维中电信号的产生和传输。使用三种技术在 PAN 中引发针灸样信号：手动针灸 (MAc)、模拟针灸 (EAc) 和电针 (EA) 样外周电刺激 (PES)。由 MAc 和 EAc 引起的放电大多呈突发模式，平均突发内和突发间点火率分别为 90 Hz 和 2 Hz。PAN 中的放电频率与 PES 的频率相关。最高放电频率在 Aβ 纤维中为 246 Hz，在 Aδ 纤维中为 180 Hz。因此，密集分散模式下的 EA（以 2 Hz 和 15 Hz 之间或 2 Hz 和 100 Hz 之间的交替频率）最能模拟 MAc。