RESUMO
Objective To explore the actions of vagus nerve in electroacupuncture (EA) with unblocking and regulating needling therapy for the treatment of mammary gland hyperplasia(MGH)with liver stagnation type, and to provide experimental evidences for clinical usage of EA with unblocking and regulating needling therapy. Methods Sixty healthy SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups,namely blank control group,model control group,EA group,EA with disconnection of vagus nerve group,and sham-operation EA group,12 rats in each group. Except for the blank control group, the rats in the remaining groups were modeled. After successful establishment of the model of mammary gland hyperplasia (MGH) with liver stagnation type, the rats in EA group with disconnection of vagus nerve were given disconnection of unilateral vagotomy operation, the rats in sham-operation EA group were given sham operation, and EA group had no treatment, and then all of the 3 treatment groups were given EA with unblocking and regulating needling therapy. At the end of the experiment, the diameter and height of rat nipple were measured,the serum contents of estradiol (E2)and progestin (P)in the rats were detected by enzyme-linked immunoassay(ELISA),and the contents of anti-estrogen receptor alpha (ERα)and anti-progesterone receptor(PR)in the rat breast tissue were detected by immunofluorescence double staining and Western blotting method. Results (1)EA treatment can obviously improve the diameter and height of MGH rat nipple, but the therapeutic effect of EA group with disconnection of vagus nerve was not obvious. (2)Compared with the model control group,the levels of serum E2 and mammary ERαwere markedly reduced(P<0.01),and serum P level and mammary PR content were obviously increased in EA group and sham-operation EA group (P < 0.01). However,the above indexes had no obvious changes in EA group with disconnection of vagus nerve (P>0.05). Conclusion The therapeutic mechanism of EA with unblocking and regulating needling therapy for liver-stagnation MGH may be closely related with the regulation of vagus nerve.