| Spinal cord injury (SCI ) often causes paraplegia and quadraplegia in patients, makes them losing labour and life ability. Its morbidity is about 20-40 persons per million persons per year. However, chronic spinal cord injury, complications of chronic compression injury and acute spinal cord injury results from the encroachment inside vertebral canal . so its morbidity more higher than the former. This is a serious society problem that can not be ignored. How to deal with it? Relieving the pain of patiens and restoring the function of spinal cord in a great degree, that have always been the heated issues in the world and also a direction of SCI study laid down by international spinal cord trust company.Our national medical, especially, the acupuncture plays a great role in the treatment and study of central nervous system diseases. It does do its works, and it is an ideal method. In recent years, a great development of acupuncture also be made in the treatment and study of SCI. Many clinical studies have showed acupuncture could improve the malfunction of sense and motor or other complications. It could mitigate muscle spasmpain and also improve the function of bladder or rectum. It is an effective method of treating SCI.What is the molecular base of the treatment and control of acupuncture and its complications? What is its relationship to the molecular pathology of the regeneration ischemia and injury of central nervous system in recent world?Cell apoptosis, under a certain physical and pathological lever and regulated by gene, is a cell self-died program. It is a died way different from necrosis and also a regular suicide inside cells. Recently study shows apoptosis may take place after the injury of spinal cord. Apoptosis signals may be seen in white matter in 6 hours after SCI and has a apoptosis peak in first and seventh day after injury respectively. Whether is the influence and effect of acupuncture on SCI caused by its contaction and regulation on the expression of apoptosis gene, then control the complications of SCI, further more accelerating the regeneration of nervous cell? Studies show the change of expression of different members in bcl-2 gene family related to the nervous cell apoptosis . If we can find a key point to end the cell apoptosis in the bcl-2 gene family, we may provide a new method for treating SCI.To study it' s mechanism, sixty rats were randomly allocatedto a model group including 40 rats and a control group including 20 rats (that is, A group). The model group received moderate chronic progressive compression within two months, then that were randomly allocated to one of two groups including 20 rats each: B groups received a sustained compression; and C group received electric acupuncture treatment. Clinical neurological function was assessed with combined behavioral score (CBS). At three months after injury, all animals were sacrificed, and histopathological changes were observed, and the expression of bax and bcl-2 on the section of the rat spinal cord was examined with immunohistochemical method.Results1) X-ray revealed the canal encroachment rate was 40%-50%(the mean 46%)after 60 days. Each animal in the model group developed clinical signs of myelopathy. CBS in C group showed a consistent trend toward improved function, and the mean CBS for the C group was significantly better than for the B group, P <0.05.2)Bcl-2 immunohistochemstry showed, spinal cord compression could inhibit the bcl-2 expression in ventral horn of spinal cord, and some of the neuronal cells could re-expression bcl-2 activity in the C group. The mean positivebcl-2 cells counts in each group were significantly different (P<0. 05); On the contrary, the expression of bax could be seen actively in B group. Further more, the re-expression of bcl-2 activity in neuronal cells was closely related to CBS. Conclusions1) The animal model in this study, which accurately represented the disease process of chronic compressive cervical myelopathy, is an ideal chronic progressive SC...
|
PDF Full Text Request