Effect Of Electroacupuncture On Knee Joint Chondrocyte Apoptosis In Rabbits With Knee Osteoarthritis

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture on knee jointcartilage、joint chondrocyte apoptosis and expressions of gene bax andbcl-2in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis modles, investigate the mechanismof electro-acupuncture treatment of knee osteoarthritis.Methods:36rabbits were randomly divided into normal group(groupA),model group(group B),EA group(group C),Glucosamine capsulegroup(group D),n=9.The rabbits in group B、group C and group D weremodeled with the Knee Osteoarthritis,fixed the left hind on knee extensionposition by Gypsum for6weeks.After modeled,removed the Gypsumbrake.groups A and B were normal fed. group C was treated withElectroacupuncture at left “Zusanli、Dubi、Xuehai、Yangliquan、Neixiyan、Liangqiu”6points for3weeks，group D was fed with Glucosamine capsule90mg.kg-1.d-13weeks,After treated,take the rabbit knee joint cartilagespecimens,observed knee cartilage morphology by HE staining and Mankinscored；detected chondrocyte apoptosis by TUNEL and Calculated the AI；detected chondrocyte expressions of gene bax and bcl-2by immunohistochemical method，and Calculated the IOD.Results: Mankin score increased significantly(P<0.01)，ChondrocyteAI increased significantly(P<0.01)，expression of bax proteins increasedsignificantly(P<0.01) and expression of bcl-2increased（P＞0.05）in GroupB as compared with Group A；Mankin score and Chondrocyte AI decreased（p＜0.01）in Group C and D after treated，and Group C decreased morethan Group D(p＜0.05).expression of bax proteins decreased significantly(p＜0.05) in Group C and D after treated，and Group C decreased morethan Group D(p＜0.05).expression of bcl-2proteins increased significantly(p＜0.01)in Group C and D after treated, and Group C increased more thanGroup D(p＜0.05).Conclusion: Electroacupuncture has curative effects on rabbits kneewith knee osteoarthritis modles，and the mechanism is closely related toinhibiting chondrocyte apoptosis by decreasing the expression of bax andincreasing the expression of bcl-2.