Effect Of Acupuncture Therapy On Apoptosis And Organic Injury In Traumatic Brain Injury Rats

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), which is fatal to people' s health, appearsfrequently. Traditional Chinese medicine argues that the action mechanism ofTBI can be due to blood stasis. And acupuncture therapy, one of the particularcurative methods of Chinese medicine, has been proved effective in the clinicaltreatment of TBI. Studies of literature showed that acupuncture therapy canrestrain apoptosis, decrease the amount of cell factors and Ca²⁺, and increasethe level of superoxide dismutase. The recent experimental studies focus onthe action mechanism of the following injury of TBI. Preventing and curingthe following injury of TBI, alleviating it's injury extent has become the focalpoint of TBI study, Nowadays.Objective:In order to research the effect of acupuncture therapy on TBI, this studyused SD rats to establish animal model by Feeney method. On the principleof activating blood to resolve stasis and relieving dottiness, the studychoosed caves, which were closely connected to brain and had prominentcurative effect: Renzhong, Baihui, Fengfu penetrate Yamen, Hegu. Thenobserved the effect on apoptosis, pathological change and extent of theinjured tissue in the rats, and investigated the possible action mechanismof acupuncture therapy.Methods:32 male SD rats were divided into 4 groups. Group A was fake operation groupwithout intervention measure; group B TBI group; group C was treated withmedicine and group D with acupuncture therapy. Then the TBI animal models wasmade by Feeney method. 24 hours later, the therapy of group C and group D was started. Group D: needle penetrate into cave for 2mm, using twiddletechnique, 2 minutes for one time. Group C: belly inject with 1% naloxonefor 7 days, one time per 24 hours. When the cure was finished, made and HEdye coronary section with brain organize, using optical microscope and theimage analyse system of biological medicine to observe pathological changeof the injured tissue and figure out necrotic proportions. TUNEL was used todetecte apoptosis, and counted positive cells by optical microscope. Thenthe mean of each sample was worked out. After been anesthetized, all rats werebleed, 2ml of each. Then serum were tested by ELISA.Results:1. Pathological survey showed: group B had hematoma in cerebral cortex; nervecell died, fluidify in injured area, being soften focus with bleeding orinflammate cell soakage. Some even showed tissue missing. The injured areawas larger than the traumatic area. The organic injury lessened in group Cand D. Group C: cerebral cortex liguid tumor, nerve cell died, appeared nuclearminiature phenomenon. Group D: cerebral cortex liguid tumor, bleedingincidental, some nerve cell died and fluidify, with a little nuclear miniaturephenomenon. Group A: no liguid tumor and no nerve cell died in cerebral cortexcell.2. The proportions of necrotic tissue in TBI rats of group B was 8.39±0.67,larger than that of traumatic area (3.14×1.5²=7.065) (P＜0.01). Group C 5.25±0.60, and D 4.47±0.40, both decreased obviously, compared with group B orthe traumatic area (P＜0.01). The proportions of necrotic tissue in group Dis smaller than that of group C, but show no statistic significance (P＞0.05).3. Apoptosis in TBI rats: The mean of group B was 28.41±4.37. It had statisticsignificance compare with group A (5.31±1.36). The numbers of group C andD were 11.54±2.07, 12.18±3.52, both were lower than group B (P＜0.01), andcompared with group A, both have statistic significance as well. The differencebetween group D and C has statistic significance too.4. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL) in TBI rats: The amountof IL-2, TNF-αin the serum of group B was higher than that of group A (P＜0.01). The amount of group C and D were lower obviously than B (P＜0.01),but higher than that of group A (P＜0.05). Conclution:Conclusively, our research showed that acupuncture therapy could lessen theextent of the following injury and reduce the proportions of necrotic tissuein TBI rats. The therapy could also resist apoptosis and decrease the amountof IL-2, TNF-α. How could acupuncture therapy protect nerve cells and preventor cure the following injury of TBI? The study implied that the actionmechanism might be the therapy can regulate the amount of IL-2 and TNF-α.