针刺对骨骼肌钝挫伤模型大鼠肝细胞生长因子表达的影响

The Effect of Acupuncture Stimulation of Ashi-point on Hepatocyte Growth Factor Expression in the Soft Tissue in Acute Contusion Rats

目的:观察针刺对大鼠骨骼肌钝挫伤后修复过程中肝细胞生长因子(HGF)蛋白表达的影响,探讨针刺治疗骨骼肌损伤的作用机制。方法:SD大鼠随机分为空白组、模型组、针刺治疗组、针刺对照组,后3组每组再分为即刻、24h、48h3个亚组,每组各8只。采用重物自由落体打击法造成急性骨骼肌钝挫伤模型,模型组和针刺治疗组进行造模。针刺治疗组和针刺对照组采用毫针透刺损伤腓肠肌全肌束的方法干预,并于针刺后的即刻、24h、48h分别进行腓肠肌损伤部位取材。模型组于相应时间点取材,空白组同48h组时间点取材。HE染色光镜观察大鼠腓肠肌形态学改变,Western blot方法检测各组HGF蛋白表达量。结果:HE染色光镜下,模型组及针刺治疗组各时间点可见不同程度的肌纤维损害,针刺治疗组肌纤维损害程度较模型组轻,以针刺后24h和48h显著;针刺对照组各时间点仅出现轻度损伤,48h后已基本恢复正常。与空白组相比,模型组各时间点腓肠肌HGF蛋白表达均显著升高(P<0.05,P<0.01),针刺对照48h组HGF蛋白表达显著升高(P<0.05);与模型组各时间点相比,针刺治疗24h、48h组HGF蛋白表达显著下降(P<0.01,P<0.05);模型组、针刺治疗组和针刺对照组HGF蛋白表达随时间的推移呈现上升趋势。结论:骨骼肌钝挫伤可使大鼠骨骼肌HGF蛋白表达升高;针刺干预可下调急性期骨骼肌损伤局部HGF蛋白表达。

Objective To observe the effect of acupuncture stimulation of Ashi-point on hepatocyte growth factor （HGF） protein expression in gastrocnemius muscle （GM） in rats with traumatic injury of GM, so as to reveal its mechanism underlying im- provement of traumatic injury of skeletal muscle. Methods A total of 80 SD rats were randomly divided into normal control （ n = 8）, model, acupuncture control, and acupuncture treatment groups, and the latter 3 groups were further allocated to 0 h, 24 h and 48 h subgroups （ n = 8 in each subgroup）. The acute soft tissue contusion mode~ was established by using 500 g-counterweight free falling hitting at the GM of the right leg （height 30 cm）. The Ashi-point was punctured with a piece of filiform needle by pene- trating the site beside the injured GM, and stimulated for about 5 seconds. For acupuncture control group, acupuncture was per- formed in the same Ashi-point in normal rats. Pathological changes of the focal GM were observed by H.E. staining and HGF pro- tein expression of GM was detected by Western blot. Results H.E. staining showed that different degrees of injury of GM tissue including broken muscle fibers with cellular swelling, inflammatory cell infiltration, muscle fibrinolysis, atrophy, degeneration and necrosis, etc., were found at each time-point after modeling, while in the acupuncture treatment group, the severity of muscle in- jury was relatively milder particularly at the time-points of 24 h and 48 h. Compared with the normal control group, HGF protein expression levels of GM at the 3 time-points in the model group, and at 48 h in the acupuncture control group were markedly in-creased （ P〈0.05, P〈0.01 ）; while in comparison with the model group, HGF protein expression levels were remarkably down- regulated at 24 h and 48 h after acupuncture treatment （ P〈0.01, P〈0.05）. Conclusion Acupuncture stimulation of Ashi-point can significantly down-regulate HGF protein expression in the GM in soft tissue contusion rats, which may contribute to its effects in relieving contusion injury of skeletal muscle.