Abstract:

Based on the projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the field of acupuncture analgesia in the past three decades (1993-2022), the hot spots and characteristics of acupuncture analgesia research were systematically reviewed. The results showed that there were 179 researches regarding acupuncture analgesia, most of which focused on the mechanism of the nervous system, involving four research directions of neural pathway, transmitter receptor, neuron and glial cell. From central to peripheral mechanism as well as multi-dimensional regulation, the scientific connotation of acupuncture analgesia has constantly been broadened and improved. The second largest number of researches were related to the connective tissue system while other perspectives such as immunology, molecular biology and genomics were also involved. The common diseases in acupuncture analgesia research are chronic pain, neuralgia, migraine, pain with negative emotions and visceral pain. Acupuncture analgesia research needs to be more comprehensive and systematic with horizontal comparison and long-term tracking, in order to promote the continuous development of basic research on acupuncture.

Key words: Acupuncture analgesia, Mechanism, National Natural Science Foundation of China