title: Electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) acupoint up-regulates mRNA expression of NeuroD molecules in the brains of newborn rats suffering in utero fetal distress.
abstract: NeuroD plays a key regulatory effect on differentiation of neural stem cells into mature neurons in the brain. Thus, we assumed that electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) acupoint in newborn rats exposed to in utero fetal distress would influence expression of NeuroD. Electroacupuncture at Baihui was performed for 20 minutes on 3-day-old (Day 3) newborn Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to in utero fetal distress; electroacupuncture parameters consisted of sparse and dense waves at a frequency of 2-10 Hz. Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR results demonstrated that mRNA expression of NeuroD, a molecule that indicates NeuroD, increased with prolonged time in brains of newborn rats, and peaked on Day 22. The level of mRNA expression was similar between Day 16 and Day 35. These findings suggest that electro acupuncture at Baihui acupoint could effectively increase mRNA expression of molecules involved in NeuroD in the brains of newborn rats exposed to in utero fetal distress.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Center, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Center, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Center, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Qiao-Mei
authors.initials: QM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Center, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Center, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology Research Center, Department of Human Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Wen
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9485-5402
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Xu
keywords: Baihui (DU20) acupoint; NeuroD; brain injury; electroacupuncture; hypoxic-ischemic brain injury; in utero fetal distress; nerve regeneration; nerve repair; neural regeneration; non-acupoint; real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR