• Bong-Soo Lim, Hak Jin Moon, Dong Xing Li, Munsoo Gil, Joon Ki Min, Giseog Lee, Hyunsu Bae, Sun Kwang Kim, and Byung-Il Min.
• Department of East-West Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Republic of Korea.
• Evid Based Compl Alt. 2013 Jan 1; 2013: 369324.

AbstractOxaliplatin, a chemotherapy drug, often leads to neuropathic cold allodynia after a single administration. Bee venom acupuncture (BVA) has been used in Korea to relieve various pain symptoms and is shown to have a potent antiallodynic effect in nerve-injured rats. We examined whether BVA relieves oxaliplatin-induced cold allodynia and which endogenous analgesic system is implicated. The cold allodynia induced by an oxaliplatin injection (6 mg/kg, i.p.) was evaluated by immersing the rat's tail into cold water (4°C) and measuring the withdrawal latency. BVA (1.0 mg/kg, s.c.) at Yaoyangguan (GV3), Quchi (LI11), or Zusanli (ST36) acupoints significantly reduced cold allodynia with the longest effect being shown in the GV3 group. Conversely, a high dose of BVA (2.5 mg/kg) at GV3 did not show a significant antiallodynic effect. Phentolamine ( α -adrenergic antagonist, 2 mg/kg, i.p.) partially blocked the relieving effect of BVA on allodynia, whereas naloxone (opioid antagonist, 2 mg/kg, i.p.) did not. We further confirmed that an intrathecal administration of idazoxan ( α 2-adrenergic antagonist, 50  μ g) blocked the BVA-induced anti-allodynic effect. These results indicate that BVA alleviates oxaliplatin-induced cold allodynia in rats, at least partly, through activation of the noradrenergic system. Thus, BVA might be a potential therapeutic option in oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy.

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