Department of Medical Research, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, 461-24, Jeonmin-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-811, Republic of Korea.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:130529. doi: 10.1093/ecam/nen064. Epub 2011 Feb 17.
Using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), this study investigated whether electroacupuncture (EA) could reduce early stage hypertension by examining nitric oxide (NO) levels in plasma and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) levels in the mesenteric resistance artery. EA was applied to the acupuncture point Governor Vessel 20 (GV20) or to a non-acupuncture point in the tail twice weekly for 3 weeks under anesthesia. In conscious SHR and normotensive Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, blood pressure was determined the day after EA treatment by the tail-cuff method. We measured plasma NO concentration, and evaluated endothelial NO syntheses (eNOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) protein expression in the mesenteric artery. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were lower after 3 weeks of GV20 treatment than EA at non-acupuncture point and no treatment control in SHR. nNOS expression by EA was significantly different between both WKY and no treatment SHR control, and EA at GV20 in SHR. eNOS expression was significantly high in EA at GV 20 compared with no treatment control. In conclusion, EA could attenuate the blood pressure elevation of SHR, along with enhancing NO/NOS activity in the mesenteric artery in SHR.
本研究采用自发性高血压大鼠（SHR），通过检测血浆中一氧化氮（NO）水平和肠系膜阻力动脉中一氧化氮合酶（NOS）水平，探讨电针对早期高血压的作用机制。在麻醉下，每周两次将电针（EA）应用于穴位“任脉 20 穴”（GV20）或尾部非穴位，共 3 周。在清醒的 SHR 和正常血压的 Wistar Kyoto（WKY）大鼠中，EA 治疗后第二天通过尾套法测定血压。我们测量了血浆 NO 浓度，并评估了肠系膜动脉内皮型一氧化氮合酶（eNOS）和神经元型一氧化氮合酶（nNOS）蛋白的表达。与尾部非穴位和无治疗对照组相比，经过 3 周的 GV20 治疗后，SHR 的收缩压（SBP）和舒张压（DBP）均降低。EA 在 GV20 对 WKY 和无治疗 SHR 对照组之间的 nNOS 表达有显著差异，而对 SHR 的 GV20 组 EA 表达则明显升高。与无治疗对照组相比，GV20 组的 eNOS 表达明显升高。综上所述，EA 可减轻 SHR 的血压升高，并增强 SHR 肠系膜动脉中 NO/NOS 活性。
