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Objective To investigate the effect of electro-acupuncture on behavior alterations,the expression of amyloid precursor protein(APP),amyloid β-protein(Aβ) proteins and neuroapoptosis in the cerebral cortex in the APPswe/PS1dE9 double transgenic mice with Alzheimer's disease (AD) induced by isoflurane.Methods Sixmonth-old AD mice and wild-type mice at the same age were randomly divided into wile-type control group,AD group,isoflurane group,electro-acupuncture group (N =8).The mice were given pretreatment with electro-acupuncture at Baihui(GV20) acupoint and Yongquan(KI 1) acupoint once a day for 3 successive days,15 min each time.And then the mice in electro-acupuncture group and isoflurane group were exposed to a box full of 1.2％ isoflurane for 4 hours.Morris water maze was used to test the learning and memory abilities of the mice,Western blotting method was used to detect the expression of APP-C83,APP-C99 and Aβ,and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase(TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling(TUNEL) was used to detect neuroapoptosis in the cerebral cortex.Results The escape latency of AD group was longer than that of wild-type mice group(P＜0.05),and the latency of isoflurane group was longer than that of AD group (P ＜ 0.05),while the latency of electro-acupuncture group was shorter than that of isoflurane group(P ＜ 0.05).The percentage of retention time in the target quadrant and the times for crossing the target quadrant in isoflurane group were lower than those of AD group (P ＜ 0.05),but were higher in electro-acupuncture group than those in isoflurane group (P ＜ 0.05).APPC83 expression level in isoflurane group was significantly lower than that in AD group (P ＜ 0.05),while APP-C83 expression level in electro-acupuncture group was higher than that in isoflurane group (P ＜ 0.05).APP-C99 expression level in isoflurane group was significantly higher than that in AD group (P ＜ 0.05),and APP-C99 expression level in electro-acupuncture group was lower than that in isoflurane group (P ＜ 0.05).The cortical apoptosis index in isoflurane group was significantly higher than that in AD group (P ＜ 0.05),and the cortical apoptosis index in electro-acupuncture group was lower than that in isoflurane group (P ＜ 0.05).The expression level of Aβ in AD group,isoflurane group and electro-acupuncture group was significantly higher than wild-type control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Electro-acupuncture can relieve the AD-like neurotoxicity induced by isoflurane and inhibit the decline of learning and memory abilities of AD mice,and the mechanism is probably related with suppressing the overexpression of APP-C99 and reducing the production and accumulation of Aβ,thereby alleviating the neuroapoptosis.
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Objctive To explore the relationship between the expression of Fas/FasL and the apoptosis occurs in retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury of rats, as well as the therapeutic effects of bFGF on the ischemic retina. Methods The models of retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury was made by transient elevating introcular pressure. A total of 28 rats were divided into normal and operation group.The latter were subdivided into 1 hour, 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after reperfusion group, in which the left eyes of the rats were in the ischemia/reperfusion groups and the right ones were in the treatment groups (bFGF intracameral injection). Apoptosis was assessed by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-end labelling (TUNEL) method, and the expression of Fas and Fas ligand was studied by strept avidin-biotin complex (SABC)immunohistochemistry. Results No positive cells were observed in the normal rats′ retinae, but there was a significant number of TUNEL positive cells in 6-24 hours after transient ischemia followed by a decrease at the 48th hour. The number of TUNEL positive cells reached a maximum at the 24th hour after ischemia. The expression of Fas gradually increased as early as when it was at the 6th hour, reached a peak at the 24th hour, and then decreased at the 48th hour. Similarly, the expression of Fas ligand was at peak in 24-48 hours in GCL and INL of retina. Conclusions Retinal ischemia-reperfusion after transient elevated IOP induced apoptosis of cells in the retina. Fas/FasL may play an important role in the early events of the apoptotic pathways. bFGF can rescue RGCs from retinal ischemia/reperfusion injury through downregulation of the expression of Fas/FasL and may represent an important mechanism for therapeutic neuroprotection.