Effects of electroacupuncture on angiogenesis after ischemia and reperfusion / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the effect of eletroacupuncture (EA) on angiogenesis after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion through observing the number of peripheral blood endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the hippocampus.Methods Among 50 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats,10 were randomly selected as a control group (CG).Qi deficiency and blood stasis were induced in the other 40 rats by intragastric administration of dahuang daily for 7 days.A model of focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury was then created by thread-occlusion of the middle cerebral artery,except in 10 rats selected for the sham operation group (SOG) who received the same operation without tightening the thread.The successfully modeled rats were divided into a model group (MG,n =10) and an electroacupuncture group (EAG,n =10).The rats in EAG started acupuncture treatment the next day after modeling,while no treatment was given to those in the other groups.On day 1,3 and 7 after the modeling,the neurological functioning of the 4 groups was assessed using Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotion scoring and the number of EPCs in the peripheral circulation was detected by flow cytometry.On the 8th day,all the rats were decapitated and the VEGF expression was detected immunohistochemically.Results The average BBB locomotion score of the EAG rose significantly from (4.50 ± 1.05) on day 1,to (13.67 ± 1.21) on day 3,and then further to (20.00 ±0.89) by day 7,significantly higher than that of MG at the same time points,but still significantly lower than that of the control group.The average number of EPCs in the peripheral circulation in the MG also increased from (26.83 ± 6.05) on day 1 to (33.67 ± 5.39) on day 3,and decreased to (32.83 ± 5.04) on day 7 after modeling,significantly lower than that of the CG [(45.50 ±9.40),(42.17 ±4.62) and (41.33 ±5.50)],the SOG [(58.00 ±8.05),(59.67±4.84) and (53.83 ±5.38)[and the EAG [(66.17 ±4.36),(127.50 ±73.75) and (55.00 ±35.15)] at each time point.After occlusion,the average expression of VEGF-positive cells in the hippocampus of the EAG [(27.80 ± 2.39)％] was significantly higher than that of the MG,and both were significantly higher than that of the CG.Conclusions Eletroacupuncture can up-regulate VEGF expression and EPCs in the peripheral blood in rats after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion,which can promote angiogenesis and neural functional recovery.