title: Inhibiting effect of electroacupuncture at zusanli on early inflammatory factor levels formed by postoperative abdominal adhesions.
abstract: We observed the inhibitive effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at Zusanli on inflammatory mediators of postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions to find out the relationship between EA and the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Sixty-four rats were divided into 8 groups (A-H, each = 8): A = sham control; B = abdominal adhesions model; C = abdominal adhesions plus EA; D = sham acupoint control; E = abdominal adhesions plus vagotomy; F = abdominal adhesions plus EA after vagotomy; G = abdominal adhesions plus α-bungarotoxin (BGT); and H = abdominal adhesions plus EA after α-BGT. α-BGT (1 μg/kg) was injected into the abdominal cavity after surgery, and the bilateral celiac vagotomy was done during the surgery. On the third day the levels of inflammatory mediators (TNF-α, nitric oxide (NO), and nitric oxide synthase (NOS)) in tissues were evaluated. The abdominal adhesion groups developed obvious edema. Compared with sham control, the abdominal adhesion resulted in a significant elevation of inflammatory mediators. EA lowered the elevated levels of inflammatory mediators significantly; EA plus α-BGT and vagotomy showed less anti-inflammatory effects. The activation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway might be one of the mechanisms of EA at Zusanli acupoints to exert the anti-inflammatory effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation of the 309th Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Lijian
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation of the 309th Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Huizhen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation of the 309th Hospital of People's Liberation Army, Beijing 100091, China.
authors.forename: Zhenjun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Military Acupuncture Training Centre, People's Liberation Army General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Shock and Organ Dysfunction, Burns Institute, First Affiliated Hospital of PLA General Hospital, Beijing 100037, China.
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine, Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, TCM Research Center Graz, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29, 8036 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9496-2213
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gaischek
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine, Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, TCM Research Center Graz, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29, 8036 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1883-3521
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Litscher
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine, Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, TCM Research Center Graz, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29, 8036 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1511-7108
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine, Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, TCM Research Center Graz, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29, 8036 Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Gerhard
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6287-0130
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Litscher