Effect of electroacupuncture combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on postsynaptic density 95 in the hippocampus of rats after cerebral ischemia / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) combined with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation ( rTMS) on postsynaptic density 95 ( PSD- 95) in the hippocampus of rats after cerebral ischemia. Methods Sixty healthy male Wistar rats were divided into normal, model, EA, rTMS and EA + rTMS groups randomly, and the rats in each group were further divided into 7 d, 14 d and 28 d subgroups. A model of middle cerebral artery occlusion ( MCAO) was established, followed by EA, rTMS or EA + rTMS treat-ment. The expression of PSD-95 in the dentate gyros and area CA3 of the hippocampus of the ischemic cerebral hemisphere were investigated. Results The expression of PSD-95 in the dentate gyrus and area CA3 of the ische-mic cerebral hemisphere had decreased 7 d after cerebral ischemia. The expression of PSD-95 in the three treat-ment groups increased after 14 d of treatment and was significantly greater compared with the model group after 28 d of treatment. The EA + rTMS group was especially superior to the EA and rTMS groups in terms of the expression of PSD-95 in area CA3 by the 28th day. Conclusions EA + rTMS can significantly increase the expression of PSD-95 in the hippocampus after cerebral ischemia. This may help explain how EA + rTMS improves learning and mem-ory after cerebral ischemia.