Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Veterans Research and Education Foundation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University, Hangzhou, China.
Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2019 Aug;31(8):e13615. doi: 10.1111/nmo.13615. Epub 2019 May 22.
Acupuncture has been widely accepted for treatments of many diseases. This study was performed to determine effects and mechanisms of electroacupuncture (EA) by chronically implanted electrodes at acupoint ST36 on colonic inflammation induced by TNBS in rats.
After intrarectal administration of TNBS, the rats were treated with sham-EA, EA1/EA2 (two sets of parameters) for 3 weeks. Disease activity index (DAI), macroscopic and microscopic lesions, plasma levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were observed as evaluation of inflammatory responses. The autonomic function was assessed by analysis of the heart rate variability.
(a) Vagal activity was significantly increased with both acute and chronic EA1/EA2; (b) DAI was significantly decreased with both chronic EA1 and EA2, and EA2 was more potent than EA1 (P < 0.05); (c) The macroscopic score was 6.4 ± 0.6 with sham-EA and reduced to 4.9 ± 0.1 with EA1 (P < 0.05) and 4.0 ± 0.2 with EA2 (all P < 0.05). The histological score was 4.05 ± 0.58 with sham-EA and remained unchanged (3.71 ± 0.28) with EA1 (P > 0.05) but reduced to 3.0 ± 0.3 with EA2 (P < 0.01); (d) The plasma levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were significantly decreased with EA2.
Electrical stimulation at ST36 improves colonic inflammation in TNBS-treated rats by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines via the autonomic mechanism.
针灸已被广泛用于治疗许多疾病。本研究旨在通过在 ST36 穴位植入慢性电极来确定电针对 TNBS 诱导的大鼠结肠炎症的作用和机制。
在直肠内给予 TNBS 后，大鼠接受假电针（sham-EA）、电针 1/电针 2（两种参数）治疗 3 周。通过疾病活动指数（DAI）、宏观和微观病变、血浆 TNF-α、IL-1β 和 IL-6 水平来观察炎症反应。通过心率变异性分析评估自主神经功能。
（a）急性和慢性电针 1/电针 2 均可显著增加迷走神经活动；（b）慢性电针 1 和电针 2 均可显著降低 DAI，且电针 2 比电针 1 更有效（P<0.05）；（c） sham-EA 组的宏观评分为 6.4±0.6，电针 1 组降至 4.9±0.1（P<0.05），电针 2 组降至 4.0±0.2（均 P<0.05）。 sham-EA 组的组织学评分为 4.05±0.58，电针 1 组保持不变（3.71±0.28）（P>0.05），但电针 2 组降至 3.0±0.3（P<0.01）；（d）电针 2 可显著降低 TNF-α、IL-1β 和 IL-6 的血浆水平。
电针 ST36 通过自主神经机制抑制促炎细胞因子，改善 TNBS 处理大鼠的结肠炎症。
