[Effect of scalp acupuncture on inflammatory response in rats with acute cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury].

OBJECTIVE

To explore the mechanism of scalp acupuncture (SA) in treating cerebral ischemia.

METHODS

Sixty SD rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) were randomized into untreated group and SA-treated group, with another group of 10 SD rats without artery occlusion as sham-operated control. Neurological severity score (NSS), hemetoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were applied to observing the changes of neurofunctional defect, inflammatory infiltration in cerebral tissue and content of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and IL-10 at 24, 48 and 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion.

RESULTS

There existed significant difference in NSS between SA-treated group and untreated group (P<0.01), especially at 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion. The HE staining results of ischemic cerebral tissue showed an apparent reduction of inflamed lesions in SA-treated group as compared with the untreated group (P<0.01), especially at 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion. The content of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta at each phase point after ischemia-reperfusion in SA-treated was decreased as compared with that in the untreated group, and there were differences between SA-treated group and untreated group at 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion (P<0.01). An apparent increase was observed in IL-10 between SA-treated group and untreated group at each phase point after ischemia-reperfusion, and there were significant differences between SA-treated group and untreated group at 48 and 72 h after ischemia-reperfusion (P<0.05, P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Scalp acupuncture can improve neurofunctional rehabilitation, suppress leukocyte infiltration, decrease the content of TNF-alpha and IL-1beta within a certain range and enhance IL-10 expression so as to suppress cytokines-mediated inflammatory reaction and attenuate cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.