Prophylactic effects of short-term acupuncture on Zusanli (ST36) in Wistar rats with lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the prophylactic effects of short-term manual acupuncture stimulation on Zusanli (ST36) on acute lung injury (ALI) caused by lipopolysaccharide instillation in Wistar rats.


METHODS
Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomized into 4 groups (n=8) classified by the absence or presence of lipopolysaccharide instillation [negative (NC) and positive control (PC), respectively], and performance of sham or real needle stimulation [sham (SA) or real (RA) acupuncture, respectively]. Manual acupuncture was performed daily for 5 minutes over four consecutive days (days 1 to 4). Lipopolysaccharide instillation was performed on day 4 after the last acupuncture stimulation. Systemic blood samples, bronchoalveolar lavage, and bone marrow blood sample were collected on day 5 to measure the count of leukocytes.


RESULTS
RA reduced the inflammatory response on ALI as indicated by blood cell count and bronchoalveolar lavage cell count. SA presented a minor efficacy to reduce inflammatory response in rats with experimental ALI. Bronchoalveolar lavage showed increased cell counts of rats in the PC group as compared with the NC group, and less but no significant differences in cell counts in the PC-RA group as compared with the PC-SA group.


CONCLUSIONS
Prophylactic manual needling stimulation of ST36 can mitigate ALI caused by lipopolysaccharide instillation in Wistar rats. Further studies should address the mechanisms of immune system response induced by needle stimulation of ST36 acupoint.
Ferreira
Arthurde de Sá
Ade S
Laboratory of Human Motion Analysis, Augusto Motta University Center, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. arthurde@profunisuam.edu.br
Lima
Januário Gomes Mourão e
JG
Ferreira
Tatiana Pereira Teixeira
TP
Lopes
Camila Madeira Tavares
CM
Meyer
Rubens
R
D026881:Acupuncture; D055371:Acute Lung Injury / Q000628:therapy*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007249:Inflammation; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D008070:Lipopolysaccharides