Effects of Moxibustion on Ventricular Mass Index and Expression of Apoptosis Related Proteins in Myocardium of Rats with Chronic Heart Failure / 针刺研究

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of moxibustion on cardiac function and the expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X (Bax), Fas, Fas ligand (FasL) in cardiomyocytes of chronic heart failure (CHF) rats, so as to explore its underlying mechanisms in preventing and treating CHF. METHODS: SD rats were randomly divided into normal control, model, moxibustion, Captopril and moxibustion ＋ Captopril (M＋C) groups (n＝12 rats/group). The CHF model was established by intraperitoneal injection of Adriamycin (ADR, from 1 to 4 mg/kg, once every other day for 15 days). Mild moxibustion was applied to bilateral"Feishu"(BL 13) and "Xinshu"(BL 15). Rats of the Captopril group was treated by gavage of Captopril suspension (5 mg/mL, 25 mL/kg), and those of the M＋C group treated by the combined two methods. All the treatments were given once a day for 3 weeks. The general conditions and behaviors of rats were observed. The left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and right ventricular mass index (RVMI) were detected for assessing the cardiac performance. Morphological changes of myocardium were observed by HE staining. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the concentrations of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) and precursor N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-pro BNP) in the serum. The expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax, Fas and FasL of the left ventricle of heart were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: After modeling, the pathological changes of myocardium (as myocardial cell swelling with vacuoles, myocardial fibre breakage, etc.) were obvious, the LVMI, RVMI, serum BNP and NT-pro BNP concentrations, and myocardial Bax, Fas and FasL protein expression levels were significantly increased in the model group compared with the normal group (P0.05)．. CONCLUSION: Moxibustion can reduce myocardial injury and improve cardiac function in CHF rats, which may be related to its effects in down-regulating the expression of myocardial Bax, Fas and FasL proteins, and up-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 protein to inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis.