RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Acupuncture and hot compress of traditional Chinese medicine therapy have good curative effect on degenerative diseases of the intervertebral disc; however, the combination effect of these two methods on the apoptosis of intervertebral disc cells remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of Tongbi prescription hot compress combined with acupuncture on the mRNA expression of apoptosis-related genes, Caspase-3 and Bcl-2, in intervertebral disc cells in a rabbit model of cervical spondylosis. METHODS: Twenty-four rabbits were randomly divided into normal group, model group, acupuncture group and combination treatment group, with six rabbits in each group. Except for the normal group, animal models of cervical spondylosis were established in the other three groups. After successful modeling, acupuncture treatment (30 minute once a day) and Tongbi Recipe hot compress combined with acupuncture therapy (30 minutes once a day) were done in the acupuncture group and combination treatment group, respectively. The cervical spine X-ray of each rabbit was taken and scored before modeling, at 30 days after molding as well as at the end of the treatment. The C3-4 and C4-5 intervertebral discs of each group were collected after treatment for 15 times. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the morphological changes of C3-4 discs, and real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the relative expression of Caspase-3 and Bcl-2 mRNA in C4-5 intervertebral discs. The study protocol was approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of Guizhou Medical University. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Compared with the model group, the cervical spine lesions in the acupuncture group and combination treatment group were significantly reduced, with a significant reduction in the X-ray scores (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between these treatment groups. The injury of intervertebral disc tissue and scores in the acupuncture group and combination treatment group were lower than those in the model group, and the score of the combination treatment group was significantly lower than that of the acupuncture group (P < 0.05). Compared with the model group, the expression of Casepase-3 mRNA decreased and the expression of Bcl-2 mRNA increased in the acupuncture group and combination treatment group, and the combination treatment group had lower Casepase-3 mRNA expression and higher Bcl-2 mRNA expression than the acupuncture group (P < 0.05). To conclude, Tongbi prescription hot compress combined with acupuncture therapy can delay the degeneration of intervertebral disc, and its mechanism may be related to the up-regulation of Bcl-2 mRNA expression and down-regulation of Casepase-3 mRNA expression.