Effects Of Acupoint Catgut Embedding On Motor Function In MCAO Rats

Background: Stroke is an acute cerebrovascular disease with high morbidity,mortality and disability,keeping continuous burden of disease in worldwide.In clinical practice,the treatment of stroke is limited to restoring blood stream in ischemic areas by means of drug or thrombolytic therapy,in fact,these stroke survivors,half still displaying a range of motor impairments.Clinical studies have shown that acupoint catgut embedding can effectively improve motor dysfunction in stroke patients,but the specific mechanism still needs to be further studied.Objective: The effect of acupoint catgut embedding on motor function of cerebral ischemia reperfusion in rats,as well as its possible mechanism were investigated.Methods: The 48 3-month old health specified pathogen free SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups(n=16 in each group):sham operation group:only the right external carotid artery was severed;MCAO group:transient occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery(t MCAO)was induced in male Sprague–Dawley(SD)rats under isoflurane anesthesia using a monofilament as Longa.Acupoint catgut embedding group: 90 min after reperfusion,MCAO rats accepted acupoint catgut embedding treatment on Baihui acupoint and anterior oblique line of vertex-temporal.And we assessed the infarct volume,neurobehavioral score and motor function after14 days of reperfusion.As well as,the expression of GFAP and Synapsin I in ischemic penumbra was detected by means of immunohistochemistry,western blot and q RT-PCR.Results: 1.Post fourteen days after ischemia reperfusion,there was no obvious neurobehavioral injury and cell damage was observed in the sham group by means of HE staining and TTC staining;however,in MCAO group,we observed significant nerve cell death and apoptosis by HE staining;and TTC staining showed severe pale infarcts in the right brain tissue of the rats.2.Compared with sham group,MCAO rats had significantly increased cerebral infarction volume,and obvious neurobehavioral and motor function impairment were observed in right limbs(P< 0.05).And after the treatment of acupoint catgut embedding,the volume of cerebral infarction in the brain tissue was significantly decreased,the right motor function and neurobehavioral score were significantly increased compared with the MCAO group(P< 0.05).3.Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression of GFAP in ischemic penumbra was remarkably increased,as well as the expression of Synapsin I was decreased in MCAO group(P<0.05)compared with sham group.However,compared with MCAO group,the expression level of GFAP in penumbra region of acupoint embedding group was significantly decreased,while the expression level of Synapsin I was significantly increased(P< 0.05).The quantitative results of Western Blot and q RT-PCR were consistent with those of immunohistochemistry.Conclusion: By inhibiting the reactive proliferation of astrocytes in ischemia-reperfusion injury,acupoint catgut embedding can increase the regeneration of axons in the ischemic penumbra.And at the same time,the motor function after stroke is correlation with synaptic connection and neurological function recovery.