ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the influence of exterior-interior meridian acupoint selection on hippocampal cell apoptosis and c-Jun N-terminal kinase ( JNK) in ischemia-reperfusion injury rats, and to explore the possible protective mechanism for ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods One hundred and twenty SD rats were randomly divided into sham-operation group (SH), model group (I/R), electroacupuncture (EA) group and JNK inhibitor SP600125 ( SP) group. The ischemia-reperfusion model was established by occlusion of middle cerebral artery with intraluminal thread. EA group was given EA on acupoints of Zusanli ( ST 36) , Sanyinjiao ( SP 6) , Chize ( LU 5) , Hegu ( LI 4) , once a day, based on the method of exterior-interior meridian acupoint selection. We observed the neurological behavioral changes by Longa neurological function standard, detected the activation of phosphorylated JNK ( p-JNK) by immunohistochemical method and examined the hippocampal apoptotic index by TUNEL method. Results The neurologic impairment scores of EA group and SP group were lower than I/R group (P<0.05) . Apoptotic index of I/R group was higher than SH group (P<0.01) and that of EA group and SP group was lower than I/R group (P <0.05) . The level of p-JNK in I/R group was higher than SH group ( P <0.01) and that of EA group and SP group was lower than I/R group ( P <0.05). Conclusion Exterior-interior meridian acupoint selection therapy has certain effect on alleviating neurologic impairment and reducing apoptosis in ischemia- reperfusion injury rats, and the mechanism might be associated with the inhibition of the activation of JNK signaling pathway.
ABSTRACT
Ob jective To research the gene expression profile of aura-absence migraine patients before and after acupuncture of Shaoyang meridian acupoints or non-acupoints. Methods Twenty aura-absence migraine patients were randomly divided into meridian acupoint group and non-acupoint group, 10 cases in each group. Gene chip technology was used to investigate the differences of two sets of gene expression profiles, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied for the analysis of partial genes to verify the accuracy of gene chip detection results. Results Seventy-two differentially expressed genes were obtained in meridian acupoint group, and 110 differentially expressed genes were obtained in non-acupoint group. The function genes of meridian acupoint group involved brain endorphin enzyme, adenosine triphosphate ( ATP) synthase, etc., which were closely related with the curing of aura-absence migraine. Non-acupoint group had extensive and scattered function genes involving apoptosis, DNA repair, etc., which had less correlation with the curing of aura-absence migraine. ATPAF2, PTGS2, TOR3A genes of meridian acupoint group and ACP2, AURKA, ARHGEF11, CASP8 gene of non-acupoint group presented by RT-PCR analysis had verified the reliability of microarray data. Conclusion The therapeutic effect of meridian acupoints acupuncture for aura-absence migraine has achieved through the multi-gene action at the molecular level, but the corresponding target genes for the placebo effect of non-acupoint acupuncture have not been found , which demonstrates the existence of meridian effect.