Effects of Acupuncture-rehabilitation Therapy on Neurological Function and Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptors, Flt-1 and Flk-1, after Focal Cerebral Ischemia in Rats / 中国康复理论与实践

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of acupuncture-rehabilitation therapy on neurological function and expression of Flt-1 and Flk-1, members of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, after permanent focal cerebral ischemia in rats. Methods Ninety male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups, namely sham group, model group, acupuncture group, rehabilitation group and acupunc-ture-rehabilitation group, and each group was further divided into 3-day, 7-day and 14-day subgroups, equally. Their middle cerebral arteries were occluded except those of sham group. The sham and model groups accepted no treatment, while the acupuncture group accepted clus-ter needling of scalp acupuncture, the rehabilitation group accepted treadmill training, and the acupuncture-rehabilitation group accepted both acupuncture and treadmill training. They were assessed with modified Neurologic Severity Score (mNSS) 3, 7 and 14 days after model-ing, while the expression of Flt-1 and Flk-1 were determined with Western blotting. Results The mNSS score reduced in all the treatment groups (P<0.05) compared with that of the model group at every time point, and was the least in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (P<0.05) 7 and 14 days after modeling among the treatment groups. Meanwhile, the expression of Flt-1 and Flk-1 protein increased in all the treatment groups (P<0.05), and was the most in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture-rehabilitation thera-py can promote the neurological function recovery in rat with permanent focal cerebral ischemia, which may be associated with the continu-ous inducement of Flt-1, Flk-1 protein expression in ischemic penumbra cortex.