课题组近期系列研究提示生理状态下痛觉内源性调控作用：易化和抑制，是处于静态或相对不活动的，需要外周足量的C-纤维传入激活。然而，较低的下行易化激活阈和较高的下行抑制激活阈为仅仅激活下行抑制而不激惹下行易化作用，从而达到有效治痛带来了困难。课题组近期实验证实43 °C温针刺激能够选择性激活痛觉内源性下行抑制作用。基于此，申请者提出：在"不引起明显痛感"的前提下选择性兴奋并增强C-纤维传入，及时激活内源性镇痛系统，可能是痛觉治疗的有效手段。本课题运用申请者创建的同步记录电生理记录模型（脊髓背角WDR神经元-腓肠肌肌电活动），联合行为学、免疫组化及分子生物学等多方法，从整体、细胞和分子角度在多层面上深入探索和验证"足三里"穴位43 °C温针治痛的丘脑神经生物学调控作用及机制。在不兴奋下行易化作用前提下，通过"不引起明显痛感"的温热刺激达到启动和增强下行抑制作用，为中医灸法治痛提供科研新资料。

More recently, our series of studies conducted in humans and animals have provided novel findings showing that the endogenous descending modulation of pain is normally inactive or 'silent', but not tonic, and needs to be triggered by sufficient C-afferent input. However, the fact of lower triggering thresholds of descending facilitation compared with higher threshold of descending inhibition brings us the obstacle in initiating the descending inhibition alone without excitation of descending facilitation. More recently, we demonstrated that warm needle stimulation at temperature of 43 C selectively triggered the descending inhibition. Accordingly, the applicant hypothesizes here that non-painful stimulation which excites peripheral C-fibers may timely initiate the dendogenous descending control of pain, and might be a promsing way in effectively control of pain. Utilizing multi-disciplinary approaches including behavioral, electrophysiological (simultaneous recordings of spinal dorsal horn neurons activities and gastronemius EMG activities), immunohistochemical and molecular biology methods, from the systemic, cellular, and molecular levels, the current application will explore potential effects of 43 C warm needle stimulation applied onto the Zusanli acupoint on the preception of pain associated with thalamus mediated potential neurobiological mechanisms. Exploration of non-painful heating-needle stimulation may provide novel evidence in moxibustion induced analgesia by means of initiation and enhancement of the descending inhibition, but not the facilitation, within tranditional Chinese medicine area.