title: [Effect of Electroacupuncture Stimulation of Different Tissues at "Huantiao" (GB 30) Acupoint on Expression of Phosphorylated JNK and c-jun in Spinal Cord of Rats with Sciatic Nerve Injury].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of different tissues (nerve stem, muscular layer) at "Huantiao" (GB 30) acupoint on expression of hosphorylated c-jun N-terminal kinase (p-JNK) and c-jun (p-c-jun) proteins in the lumbar spinal cord in rats with sciatic nerve injury, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of peripheral neuropathic damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight SD rats were randomly divided into normal, model (the left sciatic nerve severed), GB 30 deep needling (the acupuncture needle tip was inserted to the sciatic nerve trunk to elicit an instantaneous jerk of the hind limb) and GB 30 shallow needling (the needle tip was inserted to the muscle layer to evoke a local muscular contraction) groups (n = 12 rats in each group). EA stimuli were delivered at 2 Hz/100 Hz, 1 mA, 20 min in duration per treatment for 10 consecutive days. Histopathological changes were observed by Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and immunohistochemical assay was carried out to examine the pathological change of spinal segments (L4-L5) and the expression of p-JNK and p-c-jun proteins, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For rats with the sciatic nerve severed, the spinal neurons became swelling, degeneration or even apoptosis. Acupuncture intervention reduced the number of apoptosic neurons and improved the pathological change, which was relatively better in the.deep needling group than in the shallow needling group. Likewise, the elevated spinal p-JNK and p-c-jun expression levels of the model group were significantly reduced by EA intervention (deep needling vs shallow needling, P < 0.01.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acupuncture can improve the spinal pathological changes in rats with sciatic nerve injury, which is probably achieved by decreasing the p-JNK and p-c-jun expression and inhibiting the JNK signaling pathway, and thereby, reducing the apoptosis of the spinal neurons. Deep needling results in greater benefits than shallow needling.
authors.forename: Xian-tong
authors.initials: XT
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Tie-ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Xian-de
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Hong-chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Pan-pan
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000818:Animals; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D008297:Male; D010766:Phosphorylation; D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000201:enzymology / Q000293:injuries* / Q000378:metabolism; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016755:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-jun; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases