Proteomic analysis finds different myocardial protective mechanisms for median nerve stimulation by electroacupuncture and by local somatothermal stimulation.

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of the heart can be attenuated by application of median nerve stimulation (MNS) through either electroacupuncture (EA) or local somatothermal stimulation (LSTS). This study is aimed to investigate the differences of myocardial protein expression between MNS by EA and by LSTS. Twenty-four male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated to 8 groups. In MNS by EA groups, animals were EA-stimulated for 30 min and the hearts were taken for proteomics analysis at an interval of 0 min (group 1), 30 min (group 2), 60 min (group 3) and control group (group 4); whereas in MNS by LSTS groups, following 1 dose (group 5), 2 doses (group 6), 3 doses (group 7) and control group (group 8) of LSTS, the hearts were taken for proteomics analysis. Myocardial protein expression profiles were analyzed and validated by Western blot analysis. Finally, the biological responses were also evaluated. The results showed that either MNS by EA followed by a 30-min rest period (group 2) and by 3 doses of LSTS (group 7) had cardioprotective effect against I/R injury. However, the myocardial protein expression profiles are quite different between the above-mentioned groups. We conclude that MNS by either EA or LSTS attenuates I/R injury in rat hearts through different protective mechanisms and that EA and LSTS might provide an alternative treatment strategy for ischemic heart disease.