电针刺激可在大鼠脊髓诱发Fos样蛋白的生成

INDUCTION OF FOS-LIKE PROTEIN IN THE RAT SPINAL CORD FOLLOWG ELECTROACUPUNCTURE STIMULATION

本研究利用Fos蛋白的免疫组织化学方法首次报道电针“三阴交”穴位可在大鼠脊髓诱发原癌基因c-fos的表达。电针后大量Fos免疫反应(FLI)细胞出现在脊髓腰膨大的背、腹角,但标记最密集区为背角Ⅲ,Ⅳ层。在动物足部注射福尔马林产生的伤害性刺激亦可在脊髓腰膨大背、腹角诱发大量FLI细胞,但以背角Ⅰ,Ⅱ层标记最为密集。因此电针和伤害性刺激引起的脊髓c-fos表达在分布上是不同的。电针诱发的Foc蛋白可能参与针刺镇痛。

The expression of the c-fos proto-oncogene has been regarded as a marker fornoxious stimulation. We now report that electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation(100 Hz, 0.3 ms, 1-2-3 mA, 30 min) delivered into the acupoint Sanyinjiao (SP6)could also induce the c-fos expression in the rat spinal cord as demonstrated byimmunohistochemical technique using antibody against the c-fos protein productFos. In rats receiving EA stimulation, numerous cells with Fos-like immunoreac-tivity (FLI) were observed in both dorsal and ventral horn of the spinal cordwith dense labelling in laminae Ⅲ and Ⅳ of the ipsilateral side. Only scatteredFLI cells were found in laminae Ⅰ and Ⅱ. In contrast, FLI evoked by noxious sti-mulation (5% formalin injected at the hindfoot subcutaneously) was shown mainlyin laminae Ⅰ and Ⅱ, rather than in Ⅲ and Ⅳ. The c-fos expression was very lowin control animals receiving neither formalin nor EA administration. The pre-sent study indicates that the site specificity of the c-fos expression induced by EA isdifferent from that evoked by noxious stimulation. The possibility that EA-in-duced Fos protein might participate in acupuncture analgesia is currently underinvestigation.