Effects of acupuncture on gene expression profile of neurotrophin and its receptors in cerebral cortex of neonatal rats after cerebral hypoxic-ischemic injury / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of acupuncture on gene expression profile of neurotrophin and its receptors in cerebral cortex of neonatal rats after cerebral hypoxic-isehemic injury,and to explore the molecu- lar mechanism of acupuncture in treatment of neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.Methods The model of cerebral hypoxic-ischemic injury was established with 10 neonatal Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats,who were subjected to acupuncture once daily for 14 days.The animals were sacrificed on the next day of the last acupuncture and their brain cortex was sampled for examination of gene expression,using GEArray Q series neurotrophin and receptors gene array.Results After 14 days of acupuncture,it was found that 48 genes(50% of total genes on the microarray) were expressed differently between the two groups,of which 40 genes(83.3% of differently expressed genes),such as those of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF),ciliary neurotrophic factor(CNTF),ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor(CNTFR),basic fibroblast growth factor(bFGF)and fibroblast growth factor receptor type 1 (FGFR1)were up-regulated,and 8 genes(16.7% of differently expressed genes),such as genes of neuregulin-1 (Nrg1),neuregulin-4(Nrg4)and tyrosine kinase C(TrkC)were down-regulated.Conclusion Acupuncture can regulate the expression of various genes of neurotrophin and receptors in cerebral cortex of neonatal rats after cerebral hypoxic-ischemic injury,which might be the mechanism of acupuncture facilitating the recovery of the rats from hy- poxic-ischemic encephalopathy.