Yu Min, Li Gang, Tang Cheng-Lin, Gao Rui-Qi, Feng Qi-Ting, Cao Jing
Beibei Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital, Chongqing 400700, China.
The Ninth People's Hospital of Chongqing, Chongqing 400700.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2017 Aug 25;42(4):308-14.
To observe the effect of electroacupuncture(EA) stimulation at "Fenglong"(ST 40) on expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 c(SREBP-1 c) in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD) rats, so as to reveal its mechanism underlying improving NAFLD.
Male SD rats were randomly divided into normal diet group, high-fat diet group, ST 40 manual acupuncture (MA) group, ST 40 EA group and "Zusanli"(ST 36) EA group(=12 in each group). Apart from the normal diet group, rats in other groups were fed with high-fat diet to replicate NAFLD model. ST 40 MA group was treated with filiform needling for 20 min, EA (4 Hz/20 Hz, 5 mA) was applied to bilateral acupoints of ST 40 and ST 36 respectively for 20 min in the ST 40 EA group and ST 36 EA group, once a day for 4 weeks. The pathological changes of hepatic tissue were observed by HE staining. The contents of serum free fatty acid (FFA), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were detected by colorimetry. The expression of SREBP-1 c mRNA and protein in the hepatic tissue were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Western blot, respectively.
HE staining showed that hepatocytes disorganized with diffuse bullous fat vacuolar changes in rats of the high-fat diet group, and small vesicle steatosis appeared in the ST 40 MA group. The liver cells arranged orderly and the steatosis decreased in the ST 40 EA group and ST 36 EA group. The contents of FFA, ALT, AST in serum and the expression levels of SREBP-1 c mRNA and protein in the hepatic tissue were significantly higher in the high-fat diet group than in the normal diet group(<0.01), while significantly lower in the MA and EA groups than in the high-fat diet group(<0.01). Furthermore, the effects of treatment in the ST 40 EA group were better than those in the ST 40 MA group(<0.01, <0.05). The FFA contents in serum and the expression levels of SREBP-1 c mRNA and protein were decreased in the ST 40 EA group in comparison with the ST 36 EA group(<0.05).
EA at ST 40 and ST 36 have a positive regulating effect on NAFLD rats, which may be related to down-regulating the expression of SREBP-1 c mRNA and protein in hepatic tissue, improving the endoplasmic reticulum stress and regulating lipid metabolic disorder, so as to relieve the inflammatory injury in hepatic tissue, and ST 40 works better.
观察电针“丰隆”（ST40）对非酒精性脂肪性肝病（NAFLD）大鼠固醇调节元件结合蛋白-1c（SREBP-1c）表达的影响，以揭示其改善NAFLD的作用机制。
雄性SD大鼠随机分为正常饮食组、高脂饮食组、ST40手针组、ST40电针组和“足三里”（ST36）电针组（每组n = 12）。除正常饮食组外，其他组大鼠给予高脂饮食以复制NAFLD模型。ST40手针组采用毫针针刺20分钟，ST40电针组和ST36电针组分别于双侧ST40和ST36穴位施加电针（4Hz/20Hz，5mA）20分钟，每日1次，共4周。采用HE染色观察肝组织病理变化。采用比色法检测血清游离脂肪酸（FFA）、丙氨酸氨基转移酶（ALT）和天冬氨酸氨基转移酶（AST）含量。分别采用逆转录-聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和蛋白质免疫印迹法检测肝组织中SREBP-1c mRNA和蛋白表达。
HE染色显示，高脂饮食组大鼠肝细胞排列紊乱，出现弥漫性大泡性脂肪空泡改变，ST40手针组出现小泡性脂肪变性。ST40电针组和ST36电针组肝细胞排列有序，脂肪变性减轻。高脂饮食组血清FFA、ALT、AST含量及肝组织中SREBP-1c mRNA和蛋白表达水平显著高于正常饮食组（P<0.01），而手针组和电针组显著低于高脂饮食组（P<0.01）。此外，ST40电针组的治疗效果优于ST40手针组（P<0.01，P<0.05）。与ST36电针组比较，ST40电针组血清FFA含量及SREBP-1c mRNA和蛋白表达水平降低（P<0.05）。
电针ST40和ST36对NAFLD大鼠具有正向调节作用，其机制可能与下调肝组织中SREBP-1c mRNA和蛋白表达、改善内质网应激及调节脂质代谢紊乱、减轻肝组织炎症损伤有关，且ST40效果更佳。
