Effects of electro-acupuncture on learning, memory and the morphology of hippocampal nerve tissue after cerebral ischemia in rats / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the effects of electro-acupuncture ( EA ) on learning, memory and the morphology of hippocampal neural tissues in rats with a model of chronic cerebral ischemia.Methods One hundred and twenty male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Chronic cerebral ischemia models were successfully established in 104 of them, and those rats were randomly divided into an EA group and a model group with 52 rats each. These were further subdivided into 1,2, 4 and 6 week subgroups with 13 rats in each. The EA group was given EA. The changes in spatial learning and memory ability were observed using a Morris water maze. The morphological changes in hippocampal nerve tissue were observed by HE staining.Results The escape latency in the EA group was significantly different from the model group at the 2nd, 4th and 6th week. The nerve cells in the dentate gyrus were more tightly and consistently lined-up and had rich layers, and the structures in the EA group were better than in the model group.Conclusions EA can improve spatial learning and memory and promote the repair of injury after cerebral ischemia.