Effects of acupuncturing Tsusanli (S_T36) on expression of nitric oxide synthase in hypothalamus and adrenal gland in rats with cold stress ulcer

AIM： To study the protective effect of acupuncturing Tsusanli （ST36） on cold stress ulcer, and the expression of nitric oxide synthase （NOS） in hypothalarnus and adrenal gland. METHODS： Ulcer index in rats and RT-PCR were used to study the protective effect of acupuncture on cold stress ulcer, and the expression of NOS in hypothalamus and adrenal gland. Images were analyzed with semi-quantitative method. RESULTS： The ulcer index significantly decreased in rats with stress ulcer. Plasma cortisol concentration was up regulated during cold stress, which could be depressed by pre-acupuncture. The expression of NOS1 in hypothallamus increased after acupuncture. The increased expression of NOS2 was related with stress ulcer, which could be decreased by acupuncture. The expression of NOS3 in hypothalamus was similar to NOS2, but the effect of acupuncture was limited. The expression of NOS2 and NOS3 in adrenal gland increased after cold stress, only the expression of NOS1 could be repressed with acupuncture. There was no NOS2 expression in adrenal gland in rats with stress ulcer. CONCLUSION： The protective effect of acupuncturing Tsusanli （ST36） on the expression of NOS in hypothalamus and adrenal gland can be achieved.

Noradrenaline as a putative neurotransmitter mediating hypotension-induced Fos-like immunoreactivity inthe supraoptic nucleus of the rat

Hemorrhage or hypotension induces extensive Foslike immunoreactivity in the magnocellular neurosecretory cells in the supraoptic nucleus of the hypothalamus in rat, especially in the vasopressin neurons. The present study was to explore the neurotransmitter mediating this effect. Microinfusion of the alpha-adrenergic blocker into the supraoptic nucleus reduced the hypotension-induced Fos, whereas beta-antagonist did not affect it significantly. Alpha1- and alpha2-antagonist, prazosin and yohimbine,both reduced the Fos-positive cell counts. However, the effective dosage of yohimbine was much larger. Alpha1-agonist, methoxamine, induced abundant Fos-like immnnoreactivity in the vasopressin cells in this nucleus,while beta-and alpha2-agonist did not elicit such effect.Administration of the noradrenergic re-uptake inhibitor,desipramine, to this nucleus to locally accumulate the spontaneously released noradrenaline from the nerve terminals also induced Fos expression, mostly in the vasopressin cells.