Effect Of Acupotomy On Expression Of Apoptosis Regulating Genes Bcl-2 And Bax In Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Tissue Of Rabbits With Degenerative Diseases

PurposeThis study USES special axial pressure device to establish the rabbit model of lumbar disc degeneration,the needle knife treatment of 4 weeks,and establish the blank group,model group,model group and needle knife therapy group 4 comparison,observe the rabbit lumbar disc tissue imaging,morphology and regulation genes of apoptosis in the rabbit lumbar organizations the Bcl-2and the change of Bax content,To verify the effectiveness of acupotomy intervention in the treatment of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration in rabbits and explore the mechanism of action,so as to provide experimental basis for the treatment of this disease by acupotomy.MethodsTwenty-four healthy male New Zealand white rabbits aged 5-6months with a body weight of（2.5 ± 0.5）kg were randomly divided into 4 groups by random number method before modeling: blank group,dummy model group,model group and acupotomy treatment group,with6 rabbits in each group.The 4 groups were routinely fed in the animal house.The blank group does nothing.The model group and acupotomology treatment group were fitted with axial pressure device for modeling for 28 d.In the sham model group,no axial pressure device was installed at equidistant ends of each Kirschner wire,and no compression or treatment was performed between vertebral bodies.After modeling,3 rats were randomly selected from the blank group,sham model group,model group and acupotomy treatment group,respectively,and fed after plain scanning with1.5T superconducting MAGNETIC resonance scanner.On the first day after the successful modeling,the acupotomy treatment group received acupotomy treatment once every other week for four times in total.Postoperative 56 d after the intervention,4 from each group of New Zealand white rabbit random 3 only,continue to use the superconducting mri scanner to scan,and then all put to death by air embolism method,take out the L4-L5 intervertebral disc tissue,weighing,and fiber ring from cartilage board combined with site use knife cut into two parts,part put in neutral fixative fixed,Hematoxylin-eosin（HE）staining was performed for morphological observation,and the other part was placed in a refrigerator at-80°C.After that,the protein expression levels of apoptosis regulating genes Bcl-2 and Bax in rabbit lumbar intervertebral disc tissues were detected by Western Blot.The results of1.According to the results of MAGNETIC resonance imaging,the degeneration degree of lumbar intervertebral disc tissue in 4groups of experimental rabbits was as follows: blank group ≈ sham model group < acupotomy treatment group < model group.Normal DISC MRI showed uniform,bright and high-intensity signals,with no significant difference from adjacent segments.MRI of degenerative disc showed no signal and black,which was significantly different from normal disc.After acupotomy intervention,the signal of magnetic resonance imaging was enhanced,and the degenerative lumbar disc tissue was repaired and regenerated.2.At the end of intervention 56 d after surgery,HE staining results of each group were as follows: the intervertebral disc in the blank group had clear arrangement of tissue annulus fibrosus and complete nucleus pulposus structure;In the sham model group,the overall structure of the intervertebral disc was slightly abnormal without obvious degeneration,the annulus fibrous tissue was clearly arranged,and the nucleus pulposus structure was intact.In the model group,the overall structure of the intervertebral disc was abnormal,the annulus fibrosus was obviously swollen and broken,and the number of nucleus pulposus cells was sharply reduced.In the acupotomy group,the overall structure of the intervertebral disc was slightly abnormal,the number of tissue annulus fibrosus cells was significantly reduced,and the structure of tissue nucleus pulposus was intact,which was improved compared with the model group.3.There was no significant difference in intervertebral disc bcl-2 protein expression among all groups by Western Blot（P>0.05）;The expression level of Bax protein in model group was significantly higher than that in blank group and sham group（P<0.01）,and the expression level of Bax protein in acupotomy group was lower than that in model group（P< 0.05）.The protein expression ratio of Bcl-2 and Bax in model group was significantly lower than that in blank group and sham group（P< 0.01）,and the protein expression ratio of Bcl-2 and Bax in acupotomy group was higher than that in model group（P< 0.05）.conclusionAcupotomy treatment can affect the expression of regulatory factors in degenerative vertebral body,reduce apoptosis,correct the imbalance between matrix degradation and anabolism,delay the degeneration of intervertebral disc,and promote the repair and regeneration of degenerative vertebral body tissue.