[Application of virus vector tools for acupuncture analgesia related brain circuits research]

The clinical efficacy of acupuncture analgesia is definite, but its mechanisms of the central nervous system have not yet been fully elucidated. The virus vector technique provides an effective means for the study of the central nervous system mechanism of acupuncture analgesia. We, in this article, briefly introduced the classification and characteristics of virus vectors, reviewed and analyzed their application and their functional components carried by and optical/chemical genetics technologies they carry in pain and acupuncture analgesia research in recent years. At present, in the research on the central mechanism of acupuncture analgesia, the viral vectors combined with chemical genetics technology is mainly used to explore the neural circuit mechanisms such as rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC)→ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (rACC→vlPAG), rACC→thalamus (rACC→Th) and ventrolateral periaqueductal gray→hippocampus (vlPAG→HPC). The viral vectors combined with optogenetics technology is mainly used to explore the neural circuits from the prefrontal infralimbic cortex to the nucleus accumbens (IL→NAc). The viral vectors and optical/chemical genetics technology can not only target and accurately mark the specific neurons or neural circuits, but also dynamically and real-time monitor the function of neural networks, bringing new experimental means and breakthroughs for the research of acupuncture analgesia mechanism of the brain circuits.