《Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Theory and Practice》 ›› 2023, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (1): 30-37.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1006-9771.2023.01.005

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Effects of different acupuncture schemes on neurotransmitters and related inflammatory factors in rats with post-stroke depression

QIN Yanqiang1,2, DONG Hao3, SUN Yingchun1,2(), CHENG Xiankuan1,2, YAO Haijiang1,2   

  1. 1. Treatment Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing Bo'ai Hospital, China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing 100068, China
    2. Capital Medical University School of Rehabilitation Medicine, Beijing 100068, China
    3. Beijing Massage Hospital, Beijing 100035, China
  • Received:2022-10-17 Revised:2022-12-23 Published:2023-01-25 Online:2023-02-17
  • Contact: SUN Yingchun, E-mail: syccrrc@sina.com
  • Supported by:
    Fundamental Research Funds for Central Public Welfare Research Institutes(2018CZ-3)

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of different acupuncture schemes on behaviors, neurotransmitters and inflammation-related factors in post-stroke depressed (PSD) rats.

Methods A total of 72 healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal group, model group, drug control group, scalp acupuncture group, abdominal acupuncture group and combined acupuncture group, 12 rats in each group. The PSD model was prepared using a combination of middle cerebral artery occlusion and chronic unpredictable mild stimulation (CUMS) for the model and each intervention groups. The drug control group was administered fluoxetine, the scalp acupuncture group accepted acupuncture at Baihui (DU 20) and Yintang (EX-HN3), while the abdominal acupuncture group at Zhongwan (RN 12) and Guanyuan (RN 4), the combined acupuncture group at all the four acupoints, for 21 days. They were assessed with Longa neurological function score, body mass, open-field test and sugar-water preference test on the 0 (before modeling), the seventh (before CUMS), the 14th (before treatment) and the 35th day (after treatment). The levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), dopamine (DA), norepinephrine (NE), interferon-γ (INF-γ), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) in the serum were determined with ELISA on the 35th day.

Results The neurological function score was lower in the drug control group and the combined acupuncture group than in the model group (P < 0.01) on the 35th day; while the body mass was higher in the drug control group, the abdominal acupuncture group and the combined acupuncture group than in the model group (P < 0.01); and the number of horizontal span frames, the number of uprightness and the sugar water consumption were higher in the drug control group, the scalp acupuncture group, the abdominal acupuncture group and the combined acupuncture group than in the model group (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference among the four intervention groups (P > 0.05). The levels of 5-HT, DA and NE were higher in the four intervention groups than in the model group (P < 0.01), and the levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α and MIF were lower (P < 0.01). 5-HT level was higher in the combined acupuncture group than in the scalp acupuncture group and the abdominal acupuncture group, and the levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α and MIF were lower (P< 0.01); the levels of DA and NE was higher in the combined acupuncture group than in the abdominal acupuncture group (P < 0.01).

Conclusion The combination of scalp acupuncture and abdominal acupuncture can improve behavior, neurotransmitters and inflammatory factors of PSD rats, like fluoxetine. Scalp or abdominal acupuncture alone is still effecive, and can be used secondarily.

Key words: post-stroke depression, acupuncture, neurotransmitter, inflammatory factors, rats

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