Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) on the expression of triggering receptor expressed on
myeloid cell(TREM)1 in ankle joint synovial tissue of acute gouty arthritis (AGA) rats. Methods Forty male SD rats were
randomly divided into 4 groups: normal, AGA, medication and EA group, 10 rats in each group. AGA model was established by
induced monosodium urate (MSU) method, except the normal group. Tow days before AGA model was established, normal and
AGA groups were lavaged with normal saline (20 ml/kg), medication group was lavaged with colchicine solution (20 ml/kg), EA
(1.5-2Hz, D.-D.wave, 9v, 1-3 mA) was applied to“Sanyinjiao”(SP6),“jiexi”(ST41) and“Kunlun”(BL60) for 20 min, once daily,
continuously for 9 days. Then observed the changes in dysfunction, and the content of TNF-αand IL-1β detected by ELISA ,the
expression of TREM-1 detected by immunohistochemistry and western blot. Results Compared to the normal group, the AGA
group of the dysfunction index increased significantly (P<0.01), the content of TNF-αand IL-1βincreased significantly (P<0.05),
the expression of TREM-1 in synovial tissue increased significantly (P<0.05); the medication and EA groups compared to the
AGA group, the dysfunction index decreased significantly (P<0.01), the content of TNF-αand IL-1βdecreased significantly (P<
0.05), the expression of TREM-1 in synovial tissue decreased significantly (P<0.05); there were not statistically significant
between the medication and EA group (P>0.05). Conclusion EA treating AGA may be through down-regulating the expression
of TREM-1 in synovial tissue.