Figure 4

Effect of EA on p-p38MAPK expression in the ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn at 14 day after CFA injection. A-E. Immunohistochemistry shows p-p38 MAPK IR cells in the L4-6 ipsilateral spinal cord dorsal horn of Control rats (A), CFA rats (B), CFA+EA rats (C) and CFA+Sham EA rats (D) at 14 day after CFA injection. E. Quantification of p-p38 MAPK IR shows that EA suppresses p-p38 MAPK IR cells in the L4-6 ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn at 14 day after CFA injection. **P<0.01 vs. group Control. ^{▲ ▲} P<0.01 vs. group CFA. ^{● ●} P<0.01 vs. group CFA+Sham EA. n=3-5. Scale bars: 100 μm, section thickness: 30 μm. F, G. Western blotting analysis reveals that EA suppresses p-p38 MAPK protein in the L4-6 ipsilateral spinal dorsal horn at 14 day after CFA injection. G. Quantification of F. p-p38 MAPK protein in normalized against β-actin. n=4-6, **P<0.01 vs. group Control. ^▲ P<0.05 vs. group CFA. ^● P<0.05 vs. group CFA+Sham EA.