Protective effects of electroacupuncture on acetylsalicylic acid-induced acute gastritis in rats

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment on acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)-induced ulceration in rats. METHODS: We randomly divided 72 rats into three groups including control (administered with distilled water), ASA group (administered 100 mg/kg ASA) and EA group (administered EA + 100 mg/kg ASA). Each rat was fasted for 18 to 24 h before experimentation, and lesion scores, gastric acidity, cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and -2 mRNA levels, and total nitric oxide (NO) concentration were measured. RESULTS: The lesion scores of the EA group were significantly lower than those of the ASA group. Gastric acidity of the ASA and EA groups was reduced compared to the control group. COX-1 and -2 mRNA levels were significantly increased in the EA group as compared to the control and ASA groups, and NO levels were also significantly increased in the EA group as compared to the ASA group. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that EA-mediated protection against ASA-induced ulceration in rats may occur via gastric defense components.

Evidence for novel age-dependent network structures as a putative primo vascular network in the dura mater of the rat brain

With chromium-hematoxylin staining, we found evidence for the existence of novel age-dependent network structures in the dura mater of rat brains. Under stereomicroscopy, we noticed that chromium-hematoxylin-stained threadlike structures, which were barely observable in 1-weekold rats, were networked in specific areas of the brain, for example, the lateral lobes and the cerebella, in 4-week-old rats. In 7-week-old rats, those structures were found to have become larger and better networked. With phase contrast microscopy, we found that in 1-week-old rats, chromium-hematoxylin-stained granules were scattered in the same areas of the brain in which the network structures would later be observed in the 4- and 7-week-old rats. Such age-dependent network structures were examined by using optical and transmission electron microscopy, and the following results were obtained. The scattered granules fused into networks with increasing age. Cross-sections of the age-dependent network structures demonstrated heavily-stained basophilic substructures. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the basophilic substructures to be clusters with high electron densities consisting of nanosized particles. We report these data as evidence for the existence of age-dependent network structures in the dura mater, we discuss their putative functions of age-dependent network structures beyond the general concept of the dura mater as a supporting matrix.