电针手厥阴心包经穴对大脑中动脉梗阻大鼠血清、脑组织中血管内皮生长因子的影响

Effects of Electroacupuncture of Acupoints of Pericardium Meridian on Serum VEGF Content and Cerebral VEGF Expression in Cerebral Ischemia Rats

目的:探讨电针手厥阴心包经穴对脑缺血损伤大鼠血管新生的作用机制。方法:将SD大鼠随机分为正常组、假手术组、模型组、心包经穴组、大肠经穴组,每组10只。用颈动脉插入线栓法建立大脑中动脉阻塞脑缺血模型。心包经穴组取"内关""曲泽"穴,大肠经穴组取"合谷""曲池"穴,于造模后6、24、48、72h进行治疗,每次电针持续30min。治疗结束后,取各组大鼠血清、脑组织,用酶联免疫吸附法检测血清的血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)浓度,免疫组化法检测脑梗死区微血管密度及VEGF的表达。结果:与正常组、假手术组比,模型组、心包经穴组、大肠经穴组均能上调VEGF在血清中的含量及脑梗死区的表达以及促进微血管的形成(P<0.01),后两组作用强于模型组(P<0.01);心包经穴组促进VEGF在脑梗死区的表达及促进微血管形成的作用优于大肠经穴组(P<0.01)。结论:缺血损伤能引起机体自身微血管新生修复的发生。电针能促进大脑中动脉梗阻大鼠脑梗死区的血管新生,且电针心包经穴的作用强于电针大肠经穴。

Objective To observe the effect of Electroacupuncture （EA） of ＂Quze＂ （ PC 3） and ＂Neiguan＂ （ PC 6） on cerebral angiogenesis in cerebral ischemia （CI） rats, so as to research its mechanisms underlying improvement of stroke. Methods Fifty SD rats were randomized into normal control, sham, model, EA-PC 3-PC 6, and EA-Hegu （LI 4）-Quchi （LI 11） groups. CI model was established by occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. EA （2- 4 V, 20 Hz） was applied to PC 3, PC 6, LI 4 and LI 11 respectively 6 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h after modeling, 30 min for each time. Serum vascular endothelial growth factor （VE（3F） content was assayed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）, and cerebral VEGF immunoactivity was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results Compared to the normal control group, serum VEGF content, cerebral VEGF expression level, and the number of VEGF-positive microvessels in the ischemic cerebral region in the model, EA-PC 3-PC 6 and EA-LI 4-LI 11 groups were increased significantly （P〈0.01）. In comparison with the model group, serum VEGF content, cerebral VEGF expression level, and the number of VEGF-positive microvessels in the EA-LI 4-LI 11 and EA-PC 3-PC 6 groups were up-regulated further （P〈0.01）, and the effects of the EA-PC 3-PC 6 group were obviously superior to those of the EA-LI 4-LI 11 group in up-regulating VEGF expression and the number of VEGF-positive microvessels （P〈0.01）. No significant difference was found between the EA-LI 4-LI 11 and EA-PC 3-PC 6 groups in serum VEGF levels（P〉0.05）. Conclusion EA of acupoints of both Large Intestine Meridian and Pericardium Meridian can up-regulate serum VEGF, cerebral VEGF expression and the number of VEGF-positive microvessels in CI rats, suggesting an increase of cerebral angiogenesis after the treatment. The effect of EA-PO 3-PC 6 is markedly superior to that of EA-LI 4-LI 11.