[Effect of scalp acupuncture on inflammatory response in rats with acute cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury].
OBJECTIVE
To explore the mechanism of scalp acupuncture (SA) in treating cerebral ischemia.


METHODS
Sixty SD rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were randomized into untreated group and SA-treated group, with another group of 10 SD rats without artery occlusion as sham-operated control. Neurological severity score (NSS), hemetoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were applied to observing the changes of neurofunctional defect, inflammatory infiltration in cerebral tissue and content of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-10 at 24, 48 and 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion.


RESULTS
There existed significant difference in NSS between SA-treated group and untreated group (P<0.01), especially at 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion. The HE staining results of ischemic cerebral tissue showed an apparent reduction of inflamed lesions in SA-treated group as compared with the untreated group (P<0.01), especially at 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion. The content of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta at each phase point after ischemia-reperfusion in SA-treated was decreased as compared with that in the untreated group, and there were differences between SA-treated group and untreated group at 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion (P<0.01). An apparent increase was observed in IL-10 between SA-treated group and untreated group at each phase point after ischemia-reperfusion, and there were significant differences between SA-treated group and untreated group at 48 and 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion (P<0.05, P<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Scalp acupuncture can improve neurofunctional rehabilitation, suppress leukocyte infiltration, decrease the content of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta within a certain range and enhance IL-10 expression so as to suppress cytokines-mediated inflammatory reaction and attenuate cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.
Zhang
Hong-xing
HX
Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Wuhan Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital, Wuhan, Hubei Province 430022, China. zhxzj99@yahoo.com.cn
Liu
Ling-guang
LG
Zhou
Li
L
Huang
Hao
H
Li
Xuan
X
Yang
Min
M
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D005260:Female; D007249:Inflammation / Q000628:therapy; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000378:metabolism; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000628:therapy*; D012535:Scalp; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism*
D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D016753:Interleukin-10