title: Electroacupuncture ameliorates cognitive impairment and regulates the expression of apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2 and Bax in rats with cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Post-stroke cognitive impairment seriously affects the quality of life and functional rehabilitation of patients with stroke.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at GV20 and GV24 on cognitive impairment and apoptosis including expression of apoptosis-related genes Bcl-2 and Bax in a rat model of cerebral ischaemia-reperfusion (IR) induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated to a sham operation control group (SC group, n=10) or underwent surgery and MCAO (n=25). Postoperatively the latter group was randomly subdivided into EA or untreated (IR) groups. Cognitive impairment was assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM). Apoptosis was examined by detection of Bcl-2 and Bax expression in the cerebral cortex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The EA group had significantly decreased neurological deficit scores compared to the IR group (p<0.05). In the MWM test, significant differences in escape latency and route were observed between the EA and IR groups (p<0.05). Rats in the EA group performed better in the probe trial than those in the IR group (p<0.05). EA treatment markedly reduced the number of TUNEL-positive cells compared to the IR group (20.13±4.30% vs 38.40±3.38%; p<0.001). Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results showed the Bcl-2/Bax ratio was significantly increased in the EA group compared to the IR group (1.61±0.19 vs 0.50±0.05, p<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that EA ameliorates cognitive impairment of rats with IR injury by modulating Bcl-2 and Bax expression.
authors.affiliation: Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Yi-Jing
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong-Jia
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li-Qun
authors.initials: LQ
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Li-Dian
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D019254:Genes, bcl-2; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: C494828:Bax protein, rat; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein