Electro-acupuncture decreases hydrogen sulfide concentration in brain cortex of baby rats with hypoxic-ischemic brain damage / 中国小儿急救医学

ABSTRACT

Objective To establish hypoxic-ischemic brain damaged (HIBD) rat model,investigate whether H2S and cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS), the key enzyme for its generation, may be a mediator of electro-acupuncture(EA) stimulation treatment for HIBD. Methods Thirty-two healthy Sprague-Dawley neonatal rats were divided into four groups randomly sham control group ( n = 8 ); sham + EA group ( n =8); HIBD control group ( n = 8); and HIBD + EA group ( n = 8 ). HIBD rat models were established on their 7-day-old. From the next day ,rats of sham + EA group and HIBD + EA group were electric stimulated 30 min daily for 14 d,BAIHUI and DAZHUI as the acupoints. Control ones were just fixed at the same time,without acupuncture. The rats were sacrificed on the 22 nd day, one day after the treatment course. Cortical H2S concentration was measured by sensitive sulphur electrode assay. The CBS protein expression was measured by western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry for localization. Results The concentration of cortical H2S in HIBD control group was (26. 83 ± 4. 31 ) nmol/mg protein, which was significantly higher than that of sham control group[(22. 78 ± 1.54) nmol/mg protein]( P ＜ 0. 01 ). The H2 S levels in HIBD + EA group and sham + EA group were ( 18.08 ± 2.71 ) nmol/mg protein and ( 18.91 ± 2. 78 ) nmol/mg protein, respectively. Compared with corresponding control group, they were much lower( P ＜ 0. 01 ). The expression of CBS protein in rats with EA stimulation decreased in cortex compared to corresponding control group( P ＜0. 05 ).Conclusion EA can down-resulate H2S/CBS pathway. This may be one of the mechanisms of how EA contributes to the recovery of brain damage.