title: [Effects of electroacupuncture at "Fenglong" (ST 40) on NO, ET and CGRP levels in the rat with hyperlipidemia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To probe the regulative effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Fenglong" (ST 40) on blood lipids in hyperlipidemia (HLP) rats and the mechanism.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal group (fed with basal forage), a model group (fed with high fat forage), an EA group (fed with high fat forage + EA treatment), a western medicine group (fed with high fat forage + Pravastatin sodium). Contents of serum total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), endothelin (ET), nitric oxide (NO) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were determined before and after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the normal group, the body weight, levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and ET were significantly elevated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and the levels of HDL-C, NO and CGRP were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in the model group; compared with the model group, the body weight, levels of TC, TG and LDL-C were significantly decreased (P < 0.01) and the levels of NO and CGRP were significantly increased in the western medicine group and the EA group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05); compared with the EA group, HDL-C level significantly increased in the western medicine group (P < 0.01), and ET level decreased in the EA group and the western medicine group with no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both EA and Pravastatin sodium have better benign regulative effects on TC, TG, LDL-C, NO and CGRP and can decrease ET level to a certain extent in the rat of hyperlipidemia.
authors.affiliation: Section of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Wuhan Hospital of Integrating Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, Hubei 430022, China. bluesea-zl2000@163.com
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Wen-jun
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.forename: Ling-guang
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hong-xing
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tang-fa
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide / Q000097:blood*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D016232:Endothelins / Q000097:blood*; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000097:blood*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D016232:Endothelins; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D015740:Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide