Effect of Electro-acupuncture on Matrix Metalloproteinase in Degenerated Cervical Intervertebral Disc of Rats

目的：观察电针对颈椎间盘退变大鼠椎间盘基质金属蛋白酶（MMPs）的影响。方法：采用动静力失衡颈椎间盘退变模型，随机分为模型组、电针1组（电针大杼和天柱）、电针2组（电针大杼、天柱和肾俞），并与正常大鼠进行对照，采用HE染色观察颈椎间盘形态学变化：应用免疫组织化学技术，检测颈椎间盘组织MMP-1、3的变化。结果：形态学观察显示：电针1组、电针2组治疗后颈椎间盘退变的程度减轻，但电针1组的作用不及电针2组。退变颈椎间盘组织中MMP-1、3表达增高（P〈0．01）。电针1组、电针2组治疗后大鼠颈椎间盘组织中MMP-1、3表达降低（P〈0．01），其中电针2组的作用更为显著（与电针1组比较，P〈0．05）。结论：电针大杼和天柱穴对颈椎间盘退变有一定的治疗作用，配合肾俞穴可以加强电针对颈椎间盘退变的治疗作用。其作用机理可能是通过减少颈椎间盘MMP-1、MMP-3的表达，抑制椎间盘基质的降解，进而减缓颈椎间盘的退变。

Objective： To observe the effect of electro-acupuncture on matrix metalloproteinase in degenerated cervical intervertebral disc rats. Methods： The rat model of cervical intervertebral disc degeneration was induced by unbalanced dynamic and static forces, then the rats were randomly allocated to model group, electro-acupuncture group Ⅰ（acupoints Dazhu （BL 11） and Tianzhu （BL 10） were electro-acupunctured）, and electro-acupuncture group Ⅱ（acupoints Dazhu （BL 11）,Tianzhu （BL 10） and Shenshu （BL 23） were electro-acupunctured）, with the normal rats as control, then the HE staining method was adopted to observe the morphological change of cervical intervertebral disc and the immunohistochemical staining method was used to detect the matrix metalloproteinases-l（MMP-1） and matrix metalloproteinases-3（MMP-3） in cervical intervertebral disc. Results： The morphological observation showed that after electro-acupuncture treatment, the degrees of cervical intervertebral disc degeneration in electro-acupuncture group Ⅰ and electro-acupuncture group Ⅱ were alleviated, and the electro-acupuncture group Ⅱ was superior to electro-acupuncture group Ⅰ. The expressions of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in degenerated cervical intervertebral disc were increased （P〈0.01）, and after electro-acupuncture treatment, the expressions of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in degenerated cervical intervertebral disc were decreased, especially the electro-acupuncture group Ⅱ presented the better effect as compared with electro-acupuncture group Ⅰ（P〈0.05）. Conclusions： Electro-acupuncture at acupoints Dazhu （BL 11） and Tianzhu （BL 10） had a certain therapeutic effect on cervical intervertebral disc degeneration, and in combination with acupoint Shenshu （BL 23）, this therapeutic effect could be enhanced, its action mechanism might be that electro-acupuncture can reduce the expressions of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in degenerated cervical intervertebral disc, inhibit the degradation of matrix in intervertebral disc, so as to relieve cervical intervertebral disc degeneration.