[Effects of pricking bleeding at "Weizhong" (BL40) on sciatic nerve conduction velocity and interleukin-1alpha content in the lumbar vertebral nucleus pulposus in experimental lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion rabbits].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of "Weizhong" (BL40) bleeding on sciatic nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) and interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha) content of the lumbar vertebral nucleus pulposus tissue in experimental lumbar intervertebral disc protrusion (LIDP) rabbits so as to explore the underlying mechanism of blood letting in the treatment of LIDP.


METHODS
Forty healthy New Zealand rabbits were randomly assigned to control, model, BL40 and non-point (1 cm medial to BL40) groups, with 10 cases in each group. LIDP model was established by pushing the intervertebral disc tissue rightward to protrude the posterior longitudinal ligament with a self-made instrument after exposing the L6-7 vertebrae and intervertebral space. Blood-letting was performed at "Weizhong" (BL40) and non-point by using a triangle-edged needle to prick the local tissue, once daily and continuously for 7 days. SNCV was detected by using BL-410 physiological signal recording system, and the content of IL-1alpha in L6-7 intervertebral disc tissue determined with enzyme linked immunsorbent assay (ELISA).


RESULTS
In comparison with control group and pre-modeling, SNCV decreased significantly in model, BL40 and non-acupoint groups after LIDP; while compared with model group, values of SNCV in BL40 group increased considerably (P<0.05), no significant changes were found between non-acupoint group and model group (P>0.05). Compared with control group, the contents of IL-1alpha in the nucleus pulposus in model and non-acupoint groups increased remarkably (P<0.05, 0.01), but no significant difference was found between control and BL40 groups in IL-1alpha level (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Blood-letting at "Weizhong" (BL40) can relieve LIDP-induced nerve injury and mechanical oppression to improve SNCV, which may be closely related to its effect in decreasing inflammatory factor IL-1alpha level.
College of Acu-moxibustion and Massage, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, 410007, China. xrchang1956@sina.com
Xiao-Rong
XR
Chang
Ying-Shuai
YS
Feng
Shou-Xiang
SX
Yi
Xiang-Bo
XB
Zeng
Ya-Ping
YP
Lin
D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000032:analysis*; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D009431:Neural Conduction; D018962:Phlebotomy; D011817:Rabbits; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000502:physiology*
D053583:Interleukin-1beta