A study of astrocyte activation in the periinfarct region after cerebral ischemia with electroacupuncture.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the activation of astrocytes (AST) in the periinfarct region after cerebral ischemia, as well as to evaluate potential behavioural improvement after EA treatment.


METHODS
Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal, model and EA groups. Rats in each group were further divided into 7, 14 and 28 days sub-groups. A model of middle cerebral artery occlusion was established, followed by 7, 14 or 28 days of EA on 'Bai hui' and 'Da zhui' acupoints. The number of GFAP-immunoreactive cells was determined and behavioural tests were performed.


RESULTS
Many more GFAP-immunoreactive cells were detected in the EA group on day 14 than on day 7 after ischemia and a slightly decreased number of immunoreactive cells were observed on day 28. The results of behavioural tests of animals in the EA group on the beam balance performance and prehensile traction performance were superior to that of animals in the model group.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings indicate that EA has the potential to activate AST in the periinfarct region and to avoid excess reactive gliosis and also can facilitate the recovery of post-ischemic behavioural dysfunction.
Han
Xiaohua
X
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, PR, China.
Huang
Xiaolin
X
Wang
Yizhao
Y
Chen
Hong
H
D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015671:Electroacupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein