Electroacupuncture protects against CCK-induced acute pancreatitis in rats.
OBJECTIVE
Electroacupuncture (EA) has been used to treat myalgia, adiposis and gastroenteropathy in Korea. EA as a complementary and alternative medicine has been accepted worldwide mainly for the treatment acute and chronic pain and inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of EA on acute pancreatitis induced by cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK) in rats.


METHODS
Animals were divided into four groups: (1) a normal group; (2) a CCK-induced acute pancreatitis group; (3) a CCK-induced acute pancreatitis group treated with 100-Hz EA, and (4) a CCK-induced acute pancreatitis group treated with 2-Hz EA. High-frequency (100-Hz) and low-frequency EA (2-Hz) stimulations were applied to an acupoint equivalent to Zusanli (ST36) in rats, followed by 75 microg/kg CCK subcutaneously three times, after 1, 3 and 5 h. The entire procedure was repeated over 5 days. Repeated CCK treatment resulted in typical laboratory and morphological changes in experimentally induced pancreatitis.


RESULTS
EA significantly decreased the pancreatic weight/body weight ratio in CCK-induced acute pancreatitis, increased the pancreatic levels of HSP60 and HSP72, and decreased the beta-amylase and lipase levels associated with CCK-induced acute pancreatitis. Furthermore, the release of ACTH was increased in the blood serum of the EA-treated group.


CONCLUSIONS
EA may have protective effects against CCK-induced acute pancreatitis through the release of ACTH.
An
Hyo-Jin
HJ
Department of Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine, Oriental Medical Science, Institute of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Lee
Ji-Hyun
JH
Lee
Hye-Jung
HJ
Yang
Woong-Mo
WM
Park
Seong-Kyu
SK
Hong
Seung-Heon
SH
Kim
Hyung-Min
HM
Um
Jae-Young
JY
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000097:blood; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000378:metabolism; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D050884:HSP72 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008049:Lipase / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D010195:Pancreatitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000628:therapy*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012844:Sincalide / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001614:beta-Amylase / Q000097:blood