Effect of electroacupuncture on JAK2/STAT3 pathway in synovial tissues of rats with rheumatoid arthritis

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on Janus kinase 2/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (JAK2/STAT3) pathway in knee joint synovial tissues of rats with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to explore the action mechanism of EA on RA. Methods: Twelve of the 48 SPF male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were assigned to a normal group by the random number table method. The remaining 36 rats were subjected to RA model preparation by intradermal injection of the Freund's complete adjuvant into the right hind foot pad of each rat under sterile conditions. After the model was successfully prepared, rats were then divided into a model group, a drug group and an EA group according to a random number table method (n=12). Rats in the drug group were treated with 2 mL aqueous solution of tripterygium glycosides [8.1 mg/(kg?bw)];rats in the EA group were treated with EA at bilateral Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Zusanli (ST 36), for 30 min each time;rats in the normal group and the model group were placed in a special rat fixation tank for 30 min each time, and received the same dose of normal saline as those in the drug group. Rats in all groups received intervention once a day for 4 weeks. Diameter of rat ankle joint and rat arthritis index were measured before and after the intervention. At the end of the experiment, the expressions of phospho-JAK2 and phospho-STAT3 were determined by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to detect JAK2 and STAT3 mRNAs expressions. Results: After the model was produced, the arthritis index >2 was considered successful in model preparation. Compared with the model group, the ankle joint diameters and arthritis indexes of rats in the drug group and the EA group were significantly lower (all P<0.01);immunohistochemical staining cells with phospho-JAK2 and phospho-STAT3 were significantly decreased (all P<0.01);the expression levels of JAK2 and STAT3 mRNAs were decreased with statistical differences (all P<0.01). There were no significant differences between the EA group and the drug group (all P>0.05). Conclusion: EA can alleviate the inflammatory response of RA rats, improve their pathological conditions, reduce the expressions of phospho-JAK2 and phospho-STAT3 in the synovial tissue of knee joint, and decrease the expressions of JAK2 and STAT3 mRNAs. The therapeutic effect of EA is comparable to that of the tripterygium glycosides. The mechanism of EA treatment may be related to the inactivation of the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

电针“足三里”穴对大鼠迷走神经放电的影响

目的：观察电针大鼠双侧“足三里”穴对迷走神经放电的影响。方法：将30只健康成年SD雄性大鼠（200-240g）随机分为对照组、足三里组（电针双侧“足三里”穴）和非经非穴组（电针非经非穴，即“足三里”穴外侧旁开5mm处），每组10只。足三里组及非经非穴组大鼠以3Hz脉冲电流持续进行电针刺激30min，强度以双下肢微颤为宜（约2～4V）。以双极铂电极分别引导左侧迷走神经传出及传入纤维，采用生物机能试验仪连续记录迷走神经放电频率和峰值。结果：刺激前后，对照组与非经非穴组大鼠迷走神经传出和传入纤维放电频率和峰值均无显著性改变（P〉0．05）；组内各时间点比较亦无显著性差异（P〉0．05）。足三里组电刺激“足三里”穴（7．5±3．4）min后，迷走神经传出纤维放电频率明显加快，峰值增加，与刺激前比较差异均有显著性意义（P〈0．01），各参数值均显著高于对照组和非经非穴组相应时间点（P〈0．01）；而传入纤维放电的各参数值均无明显改变。结论：电针“足三里”穴可以使迷走神经传出纤维放电增强。但对其传入纤维放电无影响。