Different frequencies of electroacupuncture and semen coicis decrease glial fibrillary acidic protein expression in rats with hemisection spinal cord injury

This study established the following groups of rats： a normal group, a sham surgery group, a spinal cord injury model group, a low-frequency electroacupuncture group, a high-frequency electroacupuncture group and a semen coicis group. In all but the normal and sham surgery groups the left half of Tlo was transected. Four hours after model induction, 5-Hz and 100-Hz electroacupuncture were used to stimulate the acupoints I-luantiao （GB 30）, Zusan/i （ST 36）, Zhiyan9 （DU 9） and Xuanshu （DU 5）, or crude extract from semen coicis was intraperitoneally injected, for 8 consecutive weeks. The results indicated that electroacupuncture stimulation and intraperitoneal injection of semen coicis improved the morphology of spinal cord tissue, promoted the recovery of motion-evoked potentials, suppressed glial fibrillary acidic protein expression, and ameliorated motor function in rats with hemisection spinal cord injury. The effects of high-frequency （100 Hz） electroacupuncture ancl semen coicis were significant.

The More Efficacious Acupoints of Zusanli and Sanyinjiao Than That of Non-acupoints on Bone Mass in Osteopenic

Objective： To clarify whether the acupoints of Zusanli （ST36） and Sanyinjiao （SP6） have specific actions other than non-acupoints to bone. Methods： Forty Sprague-Dawley female rats were divided into five groups： Sham operated （sham） group; Ovariectomized （OVX, model） group; non-acupuncture group; OVX, needling on Zusanli and Sanyinjiao （Acp-A） group; OVX, needling on the reverse sides of Zusanli and Sanyinjiao （Acp-B） group; OVX, periostineal stimulation on the same height as points of Zusanli and Sanyinjiao （Acp-C） group. The experiment was continued for 23 weeks and then all animals were sacrificied. Results： OVX had a significantly higher body weight and lower bone mineral density （BMD） on the lumbar vertebrae, total femora and tibiae than sham rats, however, Acp-A showed a higher BMD compared with the other OVX groups. On the other hand, bone weights, bone strength and bone morphometry such as trabecular volume, trabecular separation, labeled width and bone formation rate also showed the same improvements in Acp-A as compared to the other OVX rats. Conclusion： The stimulation on Zusanli and Sanyinjiao specifically prevented the development of osteopenic rats compared with non-acupoints.