>针灸银针可以镇痛，为什么？5月底，发表于Nature NeuroScience杂志的研究解释了其中原因。
美国罗彻斯特大学研究小组称，针灸过程中，腺苷在其中扮演了重要作用。研究者通过添加治疗白血病药品的老鼠得出了针灸的正效应增大3倍的结论。
腺苷是一种天然镇痛剂。具有调节睡眠、影响心脏和抵抗炎症等功能。腺苷在受伤后皮肤中，可以抑制神经来达到环节疼痛的目的，这与利多卡因(lidocaine 生物医药大辞典提供翻译）的作用方式类似。
最近，科学家发现针灸产生信号使得大脑分泌了可镇痛的腺苷。该研究小组组长Maiken Nedergaard称新发现为针灸增添了科学依据。研究通过以小白鼠作为实验对象，通过对其进行针刺激其足三里（位于膝盖附件穴位），每次针刺激时间30分钟。所选细针、针刺时轻柔轻旋5分钟。观察腺苷水平，结果表明，针刺激减少不适程度达2/3。
美国国立卫生研究院（NIH）补偿与替代医学中心主任Josephine P. Briggs 博士认为研究针灸可能激发多种机制，腺苷在针灸过程中扮演的新角色，为理解针灸的意义重大。
推荐原文出处：
Nature Neuroscience doi:10.1038/nn.2562
Adenosine A1 receptors mediate local anti-nociceptive effects of acupuncture
Nanna Goldman,Michael Chen,Takumi Fujita,Qiwu Xu,Weiguo Peng,Wei Liu,Tina K Jensen,Yong Pei,Fushun Wang,Xiaoning Han,Jiang-Fan Chen,Jurgen Schnermann,Takahiro Takano,Lane Bekar,Kim Tieu" Maiken Nedergaard
Acupuncture is an invasive procedure commonly used to relieve pain. Acupuncture is practiced worldwide, despite difficulties in reconciling its principles with evidence-based medicine. We found that adenosine, a neuromodulator with anti-nociceptive properties, was released during acupuncture in mice and that its anti-nociceptive actions required adenosine A1 receptor expression. Direct injection of an adenosine A1 receptor agonist replicated the analgesic effect of acupuncture. Inhibition of enzymes involved in adenosine degradation potentiated the acupuncture-elicited increase in adenosine, as well as its anti-nociceptive effect. These observations indicate that adenosine mediates the effects of acupuncture and that interfering with adenosine metabolism may prolong the clinical benefit of acupuncture.
