Electroacupuncture and transplantation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for thin endometrium / 医学研究生学报

ABSTRACT

Objective Thin endometrium affects embryo implantation and the existing clinical options are rather limited for its treatment.This paper aims to investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) transplantation in the treatment of thin endometrium and their possible mechanisms.Methods Fifty adult female SD rats were randomly divided into five groups of equal numbernormal control,model control,BMSC,EA,and BMSC+EA,and the thin endometrial model was established by intrauterine injection of 95％ ethanol in the estrous cycle in the latter three groups of animals.The model controis were injected with PBS solution,the rats of the BMSC group injected with stem cell suspension,those of the EA group treated by daily electroacupuncture at the acupoints of Guan Yuan,Sanyinjiao and Zigong from the second day after modeling,and those of the BMSC+EA group treated by both injection of stem cell suspension and daily electroacupuncture.At the fourth estrous cycle after modeling,endometrial tissues were collected from the rats for observation of their morphological changes by HE staining,measurement of the endometrial thickness,count of the vascular glands,and determination of the expressions of vimentin and cytokeratin by immunohistochemistry and those of LIF and HOXA10 by Western blot.Results Compared with the model controls,the rats of the BMSC,EA,and BMSC+EA groups showed significant thickening of the endometrium (P＜0.05) and the endometrial thickness of the BMSC+EA group was the closest to that of the normal control.The numbers of endometrial blood vessels and vascular glands were remarkably increased in the three treatment groups as compared with the model controls (P＜0.01),with complete and regenerated endometrial tissues.The expressions of vimentin and cytokeratin were the highest in the normal control,the lowest in the model control group,and increased sequentially in the EA,BMSC and BMSC+EA groups (P＜0.05).The expression of LIF and HOXA10 were significantly higher in the BMSC,EA and BMSC+EA groups than in the model control (P＜0.01),the highest in the BMSC+EA group,which was closest to that of the normal control (P＜0.05).Conclusion Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation and electroacupuncture can both promote the regeneration and repair of thin endometrium in rats,and the combination of two strategies produces an even better effect.