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- Title
Electroacupuncture improves recovery after hemorrhagic brain injury by inducing the expression of angiopoietin-1 and -2 in rats.
- Authors
Hua-Jun Zhou; Tao Tang; Jian-Hua Zhong; Jie-Kun Luo; Han-Jin Cui; Qi-Mei Zhang; Jing-Hua Zhou; Qiang Zhang
- Abstract
Background Angiopoietin (Ang) is one of the major effectors of angiogenesis, playing a critical role in neurovascular remodeling after stroke. Acupuncture has been widely used for treating stroke in China for a long time. Recently, we have demonstrated that electroacupuncture (EA) can accelerate intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH)-induced angiogenesis in rats. In the present study, we investigated the effect of EA on the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 in the brain after ICH. Methods ICH was induced by stereotactic injection of collagenase type VII into the right globus pallidus. Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into the following four groups: sham-operation (SHAM), stroke-no electroacupuncture (SNE), stroke-EA at the Zusanli acupoint (SEZ), and stroke-EA at a nonacupoint (SEN). EA was applied to the bilateral Zusanli (ST36) acupoint in the SEZ group and a nonacupoint in the SEN group. The expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results Some Ang-1 and Ang-2 immunoreactive microvessels with a dilated outline were detected in the perihematomal tissues after ICH, and the vessels extended into the clot from the surrounding area since day 7. The expression of Ang-1 increased notably as long as 2 weeks after ICH, while Ang-2 immunoreactivity declined at about 7 days following a striking upregulation at 3 days. EA at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint upregulated the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2 at both the protein and mRNA levels. However, EA at a nonacupoint had little effect on the expression of Ang-1 and Ang-2. Conclusions Our data suggest that EA at the Zusanli (ST36) acupoint exerts neuroprotective effects on hemorrhagic stroke by upregulation of Ang-1 and Ang-2.
- Subjects
ANALYSIS of variance; ANIMAL experimentation; BIOMARKERS; CONVALESCENCE; ELECTROACUPUNCTURE; IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY; NEOVASCULARIZATION; POLYMERASE chain reaction; PROTEINS; RATS; RESEARCH funding; STATISTICS; T-test (Statistics); DATA analysis; REHABILITATION for brain injury patients; DATA analysis software; STROKE rehabilitation; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
BMC Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 2014, Vol 14, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1472-6882
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/1472-6882-14-127