Effects of acupuncture on abdominal leak point pressure and c-Fos expression in the brain of rats with stress urinary incontinence.
Stress urinary incontinence leads to the involuntary loss of urine during abdominal strain caused by sneezing, laughing, and coughing. Acupuncture has been widely used for the treatment and prevention of a variety of diseases in traditional medicine. Acupuncture has also been used to relieve the symptoms of functional disorders of the lower urinary tract. In the present study, we investigated the effect of acupuncture at the Sanyinjiao (SP6) acupoint on stress urinary incontinence in rats. The present results showed that abdominal leak point pressure was decreased in rats with stress urinary incontinence, while acupuncture at the SP6 acupoint significantly enhanced the abdominal leak point pressure. The expression of c-Fos in the pontine micturition center (PMC), ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG), and medial preoptic nucleus (MPA) regions was increased by the induction of stress urinary incontinence, and acupuncture at the SP6 acupoint significantly decreased c-Fos expression in these areas. In the present study, we showed that acupuncture has therapeutic effect on the symptoms of stress urinary incontinence, and this effect of acupuncture is associated with modulation of c-Fos expression in the brain.
Chung
In-Myong
IM
Department of Anatomy-Meridian, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyungwon University, Seongnam 461-701, South Korea.
Kim
Youn-Sub
YS
Sung
Yun-Hee
YH
Kim
Sung-Eun
SE
Ko
Il-Gyu
IG
Shin
Mal-Soon
MS
Park
Hi-Joon
HJ
Ham
Dae-Hyun
DH
Lee
Hye-Jung
HJ
Kim
Ki-Jeong
KJ
Lee
Sang-Won
SW
Jee
Yong-Seok
YS
Kim
Khae-Hawn
KH
Kim
Chang-Ju
CJ
D026881:Acupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000473:pathology*
D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos