Effects Of Acupoint Catgut Embedding Therapy On The Rats Of Learning?Memory,and The Effect Of SOD,MDA Of Hippocampus With Vascular Dementia

Objective:to observe the effect of Acupoint Catgut Embedding Therapy(ACET)on the learning and memory abilities,as well as the hippocampus SOD and MDA of rats with vascular dementia;and to find out if,to a certain degree and by its antioxidant effect,ACET can exert any therapeutic effect on vascular dementia.These will provide a basis for the treatment of vascular dementia.Method:a water maze test was carried out in order to exclude rats of specificity,after which a randomly assigned sham operation group of ten rats was established;VD models were established by way of the modified Pulsinelli Four Vessel Occlusion(4-VO)Method,and by the Stochastic Indicator method,rats of these models were randomly divided into four groups:the VD Model Group,the ACET Group and the Acupuncture Group.The acupoint selection of the ACET Group:apply ACET to Shenshu point(both)and Baihui point once every 7days for a total of two times;the Acupuncture Group:from the first day of the treatment,apply acupuncture therapy every day between 8 a.m to 12 a.m,apply oblique insertion backward to Baihui point and Shenting point,apply perpendicular insertion as well as moderate reinforcing and reducing method to Dazhui point and Zusanli point and twirl the needle for one minute.Retain the needle for 20 minutes once every day for 16 days.VD Model Group:after establishing the models,apart from routine feeding,everyday disinfection and observation of the rats' behaviors,no other therapeutic treatment was carried out.Sham Operation Group:after anesthesia,incise median cervical posterior without cauterization of the carotid artery.Then,incise median cervical anterior,separate the bilateral common carotid arteries and have them unclipped and threaded through for later use.24 hours later,have the incision stringed up.During the treatment,apart from routine feeding,everyday disinfection and observation of the rats' behaviors,no other therapeutic treatment was carried out.After establishing the models and the treatment,,each subject's learning and memory abilities should be measured by way of the Morris Water Maze Test,after which subjects were randomly selected from each group by the Stochastic Indicator method.They were later put to death and have their hippocampus-contained brain tissue cut out and their apoptosis,SOD and MDA tested.Results:it was found out after the Water Maze Test that the VD Model Group showed obvious learning and memory obstacles,and the SOD activity and MDA level of which decreased.Compared with the Sham Operation Group,such difference was of statistical significance(P<0.01);after the treatment,compared with the VD Model Group,the SOD activity of the ACET Group and the Acupuncture Group increased,and the MDA content of which decreased.Besides,the subjects were more inclined to search for the platform and the incubation period was shortened.However,comparably speaking,results of the ACET Group was superior to those of the Acupuncture Group.Prosencephalon slices of the subjects were taken randomly from each group for HE Coloration,the morphological changes of which were later observed under the light microscope.It showed that the hippocampal neuron of subjects from the Sham Operation Group arranged closely,the cellular structure of which was clear with dark stained nuclei and prominent nucleoli..The hippocampal neuron of subjects from the VD Model Group experienced diffuse vacuolar degeneration,but the cellular structure of which was clear with prominent nucleoli.Conclusions:ACET can improve rats' learning and memory abilities,improve their brain's SOD activity,cut down MDA content and can exert significant protective effect on the subject's brain tissue damage.