Wen Tingyi, Fan Xiaonong, Li Mingchun, Han Jingxian, Shi Xuemin, Xing Laijun
College of Life Science, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China.
Am J Chin Med. 2006;34(3):435-47. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X06003977.
The effects of aging and acupuncture on brain MT1 and MT3 mRNA levels in senescence-accelerated mice (SAMP10) and accelerated senescence resistant mice (SAMR1) were analyzed by Northern blot analysis. Both MT1 and MT3 mRNA levels in SAMR1 were increased significantly from birth to month 4 and decreased gradually thereafter. In SAMP10, the MT3 mRNA level followed the same pattern as in SAMR1 before month 4, then decreased from month 4 to 6, but was over-expressed and exceeded the previous level at month 8. The MT1 mRNA expression in SAMP10 showed a zigzag pattern. Of two groups of SAMP10 mice treated with acupuncture, the xingnao group (PC6 and Du26 as acupoints) and the zibuganshen group (BL18 and BL23 as acupoints), both showed a higher MT1 mRNA level and a lower MT3 mRNA level than the age-matched control group. Meanwhile, in both of the acupuncture groups, the ratios of MT3 to MT1 were down-regulated to the normal range. Overall, these results suggested that over-expression of MT3 mRNA and the increase in MT3 to MT1 ratios in SAMP10 were correlated with aging, and could be an important physiological and pathological event in the aging process. Acupuncture altered the expression levels of MT1 and MT3 mRNA and differences between the effects of the two stimulated acupoints were seen. Therefore, maintenance of the balance between MTs mRNA expression and correct MTs concentrations is crucial for brain-endocrine-immune response and normal aging. Acupuncture could improve zinc ion bioavailability, by maintaining the balance between MT1 and MT3 mRNA expression levels and might explain one of the mechanisms by which acupuncture treatments defer aging and treat some age-related neurodegenerative diseases.
通过Northern印迹分析，研究衰老和针刺对快速老化小鼠（SAMP10）及抗快速老化小鼠（SAMR1）脑MT1和MT3 mRNA水平的影响。SAMR1中MT1和MT3 mRNA水平从出生到4月龄均显著升高，此后逐渐下降。在SAMP10中，4月龄前MT3 mRNA水平与SAMR1中的变化模式相同，然后从4月龄到6月龄下降，但在8月龄时过度表达并超过先前水平。SAMP10中MT1 mRNA表达呈锯齿状。在两组接受针刺治疗的SAMP10小鼠中，醒脑组（针刺穴位为PC6和Du26）和滋补肝肾组（针刺穴位为BL18和BL23）的MT1 mRNA水平均高于同龄对照组，MT3 mRNA水平则低于同龄对照组。同时，在两个针刺组中，MT3与MT1的比值均下调至正常范围。总体而言，这些结果表明SAMP10中MT3 mRNA的过度表达以及MT3与MT1比值的增加与衰老相关，可能是衰老过程中的一个重要生理和病理事件。针刺改变了MT1和MT3 mRNA的表达水平，且两个刺激穴位的效果存在差异。因此，维持MTs mRNA表达平衡和正确的MTs浓度对于脑-内分泌-免疫反应及正常衰老至关重要。针刺可通过维持MT1和MT3 mRNA表达水平的平衡来提高锌离子生物利用度，这可能解释了针刺延缓衰老及治疗某些与年龄相关神经退行性疾病的机制之一。
