Substance P modulates electroacupuncture analgesia in humanized mice with sickle cell disease.

Chronic pain is a major comorbidity of sickle cell disease (SCD). Acupuncture, a non-opioid and non-addictive therapy to treat pain, was found to reduce pain in the majority (80%) of SCD patients in an earlier retrospective review. We observed that electroacupuncture (EA) decreased hyperalgesia in transgenic mice with SCD with varied analgesia from high to moderate to no response.