A National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded study shows that electroacupuncture, “inhibits osteoarthritis-induced pain by enhancing 5-HT2A/2C [serotonin] receptor activity.” Activation of this serotonin receptor produces powerful anti-inflammatory effects.
Researchers from the University of Maryland in Baltimore and Shanxi Medical University in Shanxi, China showed that electroacupuncture attenuates osteoarthritis pain by activating serotonin receptors that, “play an important role in pain modulation at the spinal level.” The researchers also discovered that electroacupuncture activates serotonergic neurons that project into the spinal cord. The researchers concluded that electroacupuncture has the ability to “induce spinal serotonin release and stimulate 5-HT2A/2c [serotonin] receptor activities at the spinal cord to inhibit osteoarthritis induced pain.”