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@#Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Shenting (DU24) on brain functional activity and working memory of rats with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). Methods Eighteen Sprague-Dawley rats were included, in which twelve rats were ligated bilateral common carotid arteries and six rats were not ligated (sham group). The modeled rats were randomly divided into model group (n = 6) and electroacupuncture group (n = 6). The electroacupuncture group received electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting for four weeks. They were assessed with Y maze and Morris water maze before and after intervention, and scaned with resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging after intervention to calculate regional homogeneity (ReHo). Results Compared with the sham group, alternation rate of Y maze decreased (P < 0.001), and escape latency of Morris water maze increased (P < 0.05) in the model group and the electroacupuncture group before intervention. Compared with the model group, alternation rate of Y maze increased (P < 0.05), and escape latency of Morris water maze decreased (P < 0.05) after intervention in the electroacupuncture group. Compared with the sham group, ReHo of bilateral hippocampus, olfactory cortex, sensory cortex and auditory cortex, and left striatum decreased in the model group; compared with the model group, ReHo of bilateral prefrontal lobe, hippocampus and olfactory cortex, and left amygdala increased in the electroacupuncture group. Conclusion Electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting can improve the memory function of VCI rats, which may be related to the functional activities of prefrontal lobes, hippocampus and amygdala.
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Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture at Baihui (GV20) and Shenting (GV24) on learning-memory function and ultrastructure in hippocampal CA1 region of rats after cerebral ischmeia-reperfusion. Methods A total of 25 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=6) and operation group (n=19). The operation group was occluded the left middle cerebral arter-ies with modified Longa's methods for 90 minutes and reperfused, and twelve qualified rats of them were randomly divided into model group (n=6) and electroacupuncture group (n=6), the later accepted electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting for seven days. They were as-sessed with Longa's scores, and tested with Barnes maze. Their cerebral infarct volume was tested with magnetic resonance imaging T2-weighted image. The ultrastructure of synapse in hippocampal CA1 region was observed with transmission electron microscope. Results Compared with the model group, the Longa's score improved (P<0.05), the infarct volume decreased (P<0.01), the average escape latency decreased (P<0.01) and the times entering the wrong hole decreased (P<0.001) in the electroacupuncture group. Under the transmission elec-tron microscope, the number of synapse decreased in the model group, with the structure damage and vesicles sparse;compared with the model group, the number of synapse increased in the electroacupuncture group, with clear and complete structure and rich vesicles. Conclu-sion Electroacupuncture at Baihui and Shenting can improve the learning-memory function in rats after cerebral ischmeia-reperfusion, which may relate to improvement of synaptic plasticity and ameliorating ultrastructure in hippocampal CA1 region.
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@#Objective To explore the effect of electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI11) and Zusanli (ST36) acupoints on motor behaviors, the axonal integrity and nerve bundle of motor cortex and striatum in rat model of ischemic stroke induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Methods Thirty-six adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to sham opera-tion group (sham group), ischemia control group (model group) and electroacupuncture treatment group (EA group) with twelve rats in each group. The later two groups were occluded their middle cerebral arteries for two hours. Twenty-four hours after modeling, EA group re-ceived electroacupuncture at Quchi (LI11) and Zusanli (ST36) acupoints on the paralyzed limb, once a day, for 14 days. They were assessed with modified Neurological Severity Scores (mNSS) and Rota-rod test, and scanned with small animal magnetic resonance imaging system for T2-weighted image (T2WI) and DTI, the infarct size, related fractional anisotropy (rFA) and related number of tracks of motor cortex and striatum were recorded. Results Compared with the sham group, the score of mNSS increased in the model group and EA group after model-ing, and was lower in EA group than in the model group seven days and 14 days after intervention (P<0.05). Rota-rod test showed that the retention time was significantly longer in EA group than in the model group (P<0.05). T2WI showed that the infarct size was smaller in EA group than in the model group (P<0.05). DTI showed that rFA in motor cortex and striatum was higher in EA group than in the model group (P<0.05), as well as the related number of tracks (P<0.05) in motor cortex. Conclusion Electroacupuncture at Quchi and Zusanli acupoints could improve the motor function in rats with ischemic stroke, which may be related to the recovery of nerve bundle of motor cortex and stri-atum in ischemic side.