RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the effects of electro-acupuncture on gastric emptying and Fos expression in the neuron of vagal-solitary complex (VSC) of rat bulbus after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) intraperitoneal injection (i.p.). Methods 40 male SD rats were randomly assigned to 4 groups: control group, LPS i.p. group, LPS i.p. plus electro-acupuncture at Tsusanli point group and LPS i.p. plus electro-acupuncture at non-meridian-non-acupoint group, 10 rats for each group. Immunohistochemical techniques were used to detect the Fos expression in VSC. The animal's gastric emptying was measured by phenol red method. Results The rats with gastric emptying decreased greatly to (20.7±4.5)% 2.5 hours after LPS injection, and Fos-positive neurons were significantly found in VSC (83.2±6.6) compared with control group. However, in the group of LPS i.p. plus electro-acupuncture at Tsusanli point, the gastric emptying was up-regulated to (44.1±6.2)%, and the expression of Fos -positive neurons were down-regulated to (37.9±3.8) compared with LPS i.p. group. No significant difference was found between the group of LPS i.p. plus electro-acupuncture at non-meridian-non-acupoint and the group of LPS i.p. Conclusion LPS i.p. can retard the gastric motility in rats, electro-acupuncture at Tsusanli point may well regulate the function in LPS model rats. This function may be connected with its protective effects on Fos immunoreactive neurons activity in VSC of rat bulbus.