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.
The graph below makes the effect very clear, as adenosine concentration appears to increase 24-fold during the 30 minutes of needle puncturing, and then returns to baseline in the next 30 minutes thereafter (around the 60 minute mark).
adenosine relase into extracellular cavities following "acupuncture" on mice
Nature Neuroscience
Acupuncture - What a New Study Tells Us Psychology Today
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