Electroacupuncture Relieves Postoperative Chronic Cough in Lung by Regulating TRPV1 Pathway and Neurogenic Factors

Abstract

Background: Chronic cough is common in postoperative patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). But the mechanism of chronic cough is unclear. Methods: Forty NSCLC patients with postoperative chronic cough (CC) after surgery were randomly divided into electroacupuncture (EA) and no therapy groups, each treated for 28 days. The quality of life (QOL) module in the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 (EORTC QLQ-C30), the Dyspnea module in the EORTC QLQ-Lung Cancer Module 13 (EORTC QLQ-LC13) and the Mandarin Chinese version of the Leicester Cough Questionnaire (LCQ-MC) were completed before and after treatment. In vitro, thirty guinea pigs were randomly divided into sham operation group (sham group), simple modeling group (model group), electroacupuncture+model group (EA+M group) and treated for one week. After detecting cough frequency, samples were taken and the contents of markers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, blood and lung tissue were detected. Finally, immunofluorescence was used for verification. Results: Compared to those before treatment, the scores of EORTC QLQ-C30 QOL model, the Dyspnea module in EORTC QLQ-LC13 and LCQ-MC physical dimension were significantly better (p < 0.01);The bradykinin (BK), Prostaglandin E2 (PGE-2), substance P (SP), calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP) and transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) levels were significantly lower (p < 0.01) significantly after treatment. In-vitro experiment revealed that compared to the Model group, the cough frequency of guinea pigs in either the EA+M group or the sham group was significantly lower (p < 0.01). Compared to those in the model group, the BK, PGE-2, SP and CGRP levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, blood or lung tissues were also lower in the EA+M group (p < 0.01);Their levels were positively correlated with the cough frequency (p < 0.01). Finally, compared to the model group, p-TRPV1 immunofluorescence showed that it’s level in the EA+M and sham groups were significantly lower (p < 0.01). Conclusions: The study suggests that EA could physiologically alleviate the symptoms of cough and dyspnea in patients with CC and improve their QOL. The mechanism might be linked to the decreased expression of TRPV1 provide in full on first mention in the abstract and neurogenic factors after electroacupuncture treatment.