Effect Of Electroacupuncture Preconditioning On Expression Of AMPK In Hippocampus Following Transient Cerebral Ischemia-reperfusion In Mice

Objective: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture preconditioning on expression of AMPK and apoptosis of neurocytes in hippocampus of mice following transient cerebral ischemia-reperfusion.Methods: Sixty healthy male C57BL/6 mice were randomly assigned into 5 groups: group Sham, BCCAO, EA+BCCAO, CC+BCCAO and EA+CC+BCCAO. Sham group only subjected to cervical median incision served as blank control and BCCAO group underwent 15 minutes bilateral common carotid artery occlusion(BCCAO) without any other treatment. EA+BCCAO group was continuously administered electroacupuncture preconditioning before BCCAO and CC+BCCAO group was given Compound C(AMPK inhibitor) before BCCAO. EA+CC+BCCAO group was continuously administered electroacupuncture preconditioning and then given Compound C before BCCAO. Seventy-two hours after reperfusion, all mice were harvested and the expression level of AMPK and p-AMPKα in brain was investigated by Western blot. The morphological alteration and number of neurocytes surviving in hippocampus CA1 was measured by HE staining and TUNEL.Results: In contrast with BCCAO group, the proportion of apoptosis neurocytes in EA+BCCAO group decreased significantly and the expression of AMPKα increased significantly(P < 0.05). Compared to EA+CC+BCCAO group, the proportions of neurocytes surviving in EA+BCCAO group increased significantly while expression of p-AMPKα increased significantly(P<0.05).Conclusion: Electroacupuncture preconditioning could protect brain from ischemia-reperfusion injury by up-regulating the AMPKα and p-AMPKα expression.