Effect of electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC 6) on cardiac function and inflammatory factors of acupoint area in rats with acute myocardial ischemia / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Neiguan" (PC 6) on cardiac function and cardiomyocyte apoptosis in rats with acute myocardial ischemia (AMI), and to explore the correlation between myocardial protective effect of EA and inflammatory factors i.e. interleukin-1β (IL-1β) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) of "Neiguan" (PC 6) area.@*METHODS@#A total of 40 male SD rats with normal ultrasonic cardiogram were randomized into a sham-operation group, a sham-operation plus EA group, a model group and an EA group, 10 rats in each group. The AMI model was established by ligating the left anterior descending (LAD) branch of the coronary artery in the model group and the EA group, while the threading without ligating was adopted in the sham-operation group and the sham-operation plus EA group. In the sham-operation plus EA group and the EA group, EA at bilateral "Neiguan" (PC 6) was applied, with disperse-dense wave, 2 Hz/100 Hz in frequency and 2 mA in density, once a day, 20 min a time for 3 days. The cardiac ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were measured by ultrasonic cardiogram to evaluate the cardiac function, the cardiomyocyte apoptosis was detected by TUNEL staining, the infiltration of inflammatory factors of "Neiguan" (PC 6) area was observed by H.E. staining, the expression of inflammatory factors IL-1β and IL-17 of "Neiguan" (PC 6) area was detected by immunofluorescence staining.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the sham-operation group, EF and FS were decreased (@*CONCLUSION@#Electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC 6) can improve the cardiac function and reduce the apoptosis of cardiomyocyte in rats with acute myocardial ischemia, its mechanism may be related to the regulation of the inflammatory factors of "Neiguan" (PC 6) area.

Effect of electroacupuncture on expression of IL-23/IL-17 axis and TLR4 in infarcted tissue in rats with myocardial infarction / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on expression of interleukin (IL) -23/IL-17 axis and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the infarcted tissue in rats with myocardial infarction (MI), and to explore the mechanism of EA on alleviating MI injury.@*METHODS@#Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into a sham-operation group, a sham-operation plus EA group, a model group and an EA group, 10 rats in each group. The MI models were established by ligation of left anterior descending coronary artery in the model group and EA group, while only threading was performed in the sham-operation group and sham-operation plus EA group. The rats in the sham-operation plus EA group and EA group were treated with EA at "Neiguan" (PC 6), disperse-dense wave, 2 Hz/100 Hz, 2 mA, once a day, 20 min each time, for 3 days. After the intervention, the ejection fraction (EF) was measured by echocardiography to evaluate the cardiac function; the infarct area was measured by TTC staining; the HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of myocardial tissue; the levels of IL-23 and IL-17 in infarcted tissue were detected by ELISA; the protein expression of TLR4 in infarcted tissue was detected by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the sham-operation group, the EF was decreased (@*CONCLUSION@#EA may alleviate the excessive inflammatory response after MI by inhibiting the expression of IL-23/IL-17 axis in MI rats, and TLR4 may be involved during the process.

Progress of Research on Mechanisms of Moxibustion Intervention Underlying Improvement of Blood Circulation / 针刺研究

OBJECTIVE: Moxibustion is one of the commonly used therapy of traditional Chinese medicine by applying burning dried mugwort on particular acupoints of the body surface. In the present paper，we reviewed progress of researches about the mechanisms of moxibustion treatment undering imporvement of blood circulation in recent 15 years. Research results displayed that moxibustion can dilate blood vessels to increase blood flow and improve microcirculation, not only in the local superficial vessels of body, but also in the deep tissues as the brain, stomach and mesentery, kidney, heart, etc., as well as in the distal blood vessels. The vasodilator action of moxibustion stimulation is related to nerve regulation, endothelium derived relaxing factors and vasodilator mediator, etc. through 1) interaction of acetylcholine (Ach)/muscarinic receptor (MR) and noradrenaline (NE)/α- or β-receptor; 2) nitric oxide synthase (NOS)/NO/arachidonic acid/prostacyclin (PGI2)/endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) pathway; 3) EDHF/TRPV 4/KCa channel, cytochrome P 450 oxidase/epoxyeicosatrienoicacid (EET); 4) EET/TRPV 4/big conductance calcium-activated potassium channel (BKCa); 5) sulfuretted hydrogen (H2S)/ATP-sensitive potassium channel (KATP) or voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv 7); 6) NO/substance P (SP) or CGRP and adrenergic β 2 receptor(R)/TRPV 1/adenosin A 1 R and A 2 R/NK 1 R pathway; 7) PGI2/adenylyl cyclase (cAMP)/PKA and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), etc. in the vascular endothelium and smooth muscle. These research results may help us understand the effects and mechanisms of moxibustion in the treatment of different clinical conditions by improving microcirculation.