[Effect of electroacupuncture of "Neiguan" (PC 6) on heart rate and plasma catecholamine contents in ventricular tachycardia rats].
OBJECTIVE
To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of "Neiguan" (PC 6) on heart rate (HR) and plasma catecholamine (CA) levels in ventricular tachycardia (VT) rats.


METHODS
A total of 50 SD rats were randomly divided into normal control, sham-operation (sham), model, EA-PC 6 and EA-LU 7 groups, with 10 cases in each. VT model was established by intravenous injection of cesium chloride (CsCl) via femoral vein. Electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded. EA (2 Hz/15 Hz, 1 mA) was separately applied to bilateral "Neiguan" (PC 6) and "Lieque" (LU 7) for 5 minutes, followed by collecting blood samples for detecting plasma norepinephrine (NE) and epinephrine (E) levels with fluorometric method.


RESULTS
In comparison with normal control group, plasma NE and E contents in model group increased apparently (P < 0.01). Compared with model group, HR and plasma NE and E contents of EA-PC 6 group reduced significantly (P < 0.01), while those of EA-LU 7 had no apparent change (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
EA of "Neiguan" (PC 6) can downregulate heart rate and plasma CA level in VT rats, which may contribute to its effect in relieving tachycardia.
Wang
Hua
H
Department of Acu-moxibustion and Osteo-traumatology, Hubei College of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430061, China.
Deng
Li-xia
LX
Wu
Xu-ping
XP
Bai
Ji-yang
JY
D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D002395:Catecholamines / Q000097:blood*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017180:Tachycardia, Ventricular / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*
D002395:Catecholamines