title: Electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels and transplantation of umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells for treating cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury.
abstract: Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation is a novel means of treating cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, and can promote angiogenesis and neurological functional recovery. Acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels also has positive effects as a treatment for cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Therefore, we hypothesized that electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels plus mesenchymal stem cell transplantation may have better therapeutic effects on the promotion of angiogenesis and recovery of neurological function than either treatment alone. In the present study, human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were isolated, cultured, identified and intracranially transplanted into the striatum and subcortex of rats at 24 hours following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Subsequently, rats were electro-acupunctured at Conception and Governor vessels at 24 hours after transplantation. Modified neurological severity scores and immunohistochemistry findings revealed that the combined interventions of electro-acupuncture and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation clearly improved neurological impairment and up-regulated vascular endothelial growth factor expression around the ischemic focus. The combined intervention provided a better outcome than mesenchymal stem cell transplantation alone. These findings demonstrate that electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation have synergetic effects on promoting neurological function recovery and angiogenesis in rats after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Pengdian
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Maternity & Child Healthcare Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhuoxin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Wenshu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pi
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Yonggang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: Conception vessel; Governor vessel; NSFC grant; acupuncture; angiogenesis; cerebral ischemia/reperfusion; electro-acupuncture; human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells; modified neurological severity score; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; vascular endothelial growth factor