Wang Sheng-Zhi, Liu Xiao-Dong, Huang Yu-Xin, Ma Qing-Jiu, Wang Jing-Jie
Department of General Surgery, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710038, China.
Am J Chin Med. 2009;37(4):647-56. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X09007132.
According to recent evidence, acupuncture at Tsusanli (ST 36) can regulate gastric activity. And this regulation mainly depends upon neural basis or structure and may probably relate to the central neurons in the dorsal vagal complex. However, whether the glias of the dorsal vagal complex participate in the regulation of gastric activity, when electro-acupuncture (EA) at Tsusanli, still remains to be interpreted. In this study, we observed the effect of EA at Tsusanli (ST 36) on regulation of gastric activity. Propentofylline (PPF), a glial metabolic inhibitor, was used to inhibit the function of glial cells. EA at Tsusanli showed that the expressions of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and OX42 increased significantly compared to that of the control group, and gastric electric change was obvious, with significantly higher frequency and wave amplitude compared to the control group. The expressions of GFAP and OX42 were decreased markedly when pretreated with PPF group than without PPF pretreatment group. Compared to the Tsusanli group and the control group, the changes of electro gastric graph (EGG) were significantly decreased in PPF pretreatment group. On the other hand, we observed the changes of spontaneous electro-activity of the DVC (dorsal vagal complex) in our previous experiment. The results indicated that EA at Tsusanli could activate glial cells in the dorsal vagal complex and regulate gastric activity. PPF blocked the function of glia, thus the effect of EA at Tsusanli on gastric activity was weakened. Our study suggested that this electro-acupuncture regulation of gastric activity was possibly related with glia of the dorsal vagal complex.
根据最近的证据，足三里（ST 36）穴位针刺可调节胃活动。这种调节主要依赖于神经基础或结构，可能与迷走神经背核复合体中的中枢神经元有关。然而，迷走神经背核复合体的神经胶质细胞是否参与胃活动的调节，以及针刺足三里时的情况，仍有待阐明。在本研究中，我们观察了针刺足三里（ST 36）对胃活动调节的影响。丙戊茶碱（PPF），一种神经胶质代谢抑制剂，被用于抑制神经胶质细胞的功能。针刺足三里显示，与对照组相比，神经胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）和OX42的表达显著增加，胃电变化明显，频率和波幅均显著高于对照组。与未用PPF预处理组相比，PPF预处理组中GFAP和OX42的表达明显降低。与足三里组和对照组相比，PPF预处理组胃电图（EGG）的变化明显减少。另一方面，我们在之前的实验中观察了迷走神经背核复合体（DVC）的自发电活动变化。结果表明，针刺足三里可激活迷走神经背核复合体中的神经胶质细胞并调节胃活动。PPF阻断了神经胶质细胞的功能，从而削弱了针刺足三里对胃活动的影响。我们的研究表明，针刺对胃活动的这种调节可能与迷走神经背核复合体的神经胶质细胞有关。
