Gan Ping, Cheng Jie-Shi, Ng Yee-Kong, Ling Eng-Ang
National Key Laboratory of Medical Neuroscience, Institute of Acupuncture Research, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, PR China.
Neurosci Lett. 2005 Aug 5;383(3):317-21. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2005.04.032.
This study investigated the possible involvement of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the therapeutic effect of cerebral ischemia by electro-acupuncture (EA) using the rat model with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). By immunohistochemistry, the changes of GABA expression level in the primary infarct area and its penumbral regions were examined. The changes in infarct area and survival neuron percentages were also assessed using haematoxylin and eosin stained sections after picrotoxin (PTX) injection, a GABA receptor's antagonist. Our results showed that EA markedly decreased the ischemic damaged areas in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Concomitant to this was an up-regulation of GABA immunoexpression in MCAO rats with EA treatment (P < 0.05). Furthermore, injection of PTX in rats subjected to MCAO or MCAO followed by EA treatment increased the infarct area and decreased survival cell percentage significantly when compared with those without PTX injection. In the light of these findings, it is suggested that EA on specific and established acupoints that are commonly used in clinical management of cerebral ischemia may have elicited an up-regulated expression of GABA that would have a neuroprotective effect.
本研究采用大脑中动脉闭塞（MCAO）大鼠模型，通过电针（EA）研究γ-氨基丁酸（GABA）在脑缺血治疗作用中可能的参与情况。采用免疫组织化学方法，检测原发性梗死灶区域及其半暗带区域GABA表达水平的变化。在注射GABA受体拮抗剂印防己毒素（PTX）后，使用苏木精-伊红染色切片评估梗死面积和存活神经元百分比的变化。我们的结果表明，电针显著减少了大脑皮层和海马体的缺血损伤区域。与此同时，电针治疗的MCAO大鼠中GABA免疫表达上调（P < 0.05）。此外，与未注射PTX的大鼠相比，在MCAO或MCAO后接受电针治疗的大鼠中注射PTX，显著增加了梗死面积并降低了存活细胞百分比。根据这些发现，提示在脑缺血临床治疗中常用的特定且确定的穴位上进行电针，可能会引起GABA表达上调，从而具有神经保护作用。
