Anti-histamines Promote Electroacupuncture Analgesia: Basic and Clinical Research
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2019-06-30
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Acupuncture has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for around 3,000 years and is
increasingly practiced worldwide. The effects of acupuncture in chronic pain have been
investigated in many clinical trials. Histamine H1 receptor antagonists are commonly used for
treating allergy. Recently, investigators found that histamine H1 receptor antagonists at
relatively low doses facilitate EA analgesia in the acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing
test. Investigators aim to further explore whether histamine H1 receptor antagonists also
facilitate EA analgesia in humans.The aims of the proposed studies are to: Conduct a clinical
trial to demonstrate that H1 receptor antagonists at relatively low doses facilitate EA
analgesia in healthy volunteers. This study will recruit 40 healthy normal subjects (aged
between 20 and 30 years) who will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: (1) Sham
acupuncture (Shallow needling without electrical stimulation) at ST36 and GB34; (2) EA at
ST36 and GB34; (3) EA at ST36 and GB34 plus low-dose chlorpheniramine (2 mg); (4) EA at ST36
and GB34 plus regular-dose chlorpheniramine (4 mg). The primary endpoint will be the pain
threshold. It is expected that the completion of this proposed study will enhance our
knowledge as to how acupuncture analgesia can be promoted by antihistamine drugs given at a
low dose and help to define its application for clinical use.