Department of Cardiology, Wuhan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China.
Department of Massage, Wuhan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China.
Acupunct Med. 2024 Oct;42(5):268-274. doi: 10.1177/09645284241280074. Epub 2024 Sep 27.
Sciatic nerve injury is a common form of peripheral nerve injury (PNI). It has been suggested that electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation at GB30 and ST36 can improve nerve dysfunction post-PNI. Autophagy is an important factor in the regeneration of sciatic nerves and recovery of motor function. Therefore, we investigated the biological effects of EA and examined whether these were mediated by autophagy in sciatic nerve injury.
Mechanical clamping of the sciatic nerve in Sprague-Dawley rats was performed to establish an experimental model of sciatic nerve injury. EA stimulation was administered once daily for 15 min for seven consecutive days beginning 1 week after successful modeling. The recovery of sciatic nerve function was examined via the sciatic functional index (SFI) test. Morphometric analysis was conducted by staining nerve samples with toluidine blue. Autophagy-associated protein levels were measured via Western blotting.
EA stimulation at GB30 and ST36 significantly increased the number of myelinated fibers, axonal and fiber diameters, and the thickness of the myelin sheath in our rat model of sciatic nerve injury. In addition, EA stimulation greatly facilitated nerve regeneration following sciatic nerve injury. Moreover, sciatic nerve injury-induced autophagy was inhibited by EA stimulation.
EA facilitates recovery of injured sciatic nerves and inhibits autophagy in a rat model.
坐骨神经损伤是一种常见的周围神经损伤（PNI）形式。有研究表明，电针（EA）刺激 GB30 和 ST36 可以改善 PNI 后的神经功能障碍。自噬是坐骨神经再生和运动功能恢复的重要因素。因此，我们研究了 EA 的生物学效应，并探讨了这些效应是否通过坐骨神经损伤中的自噬来介导。
采用 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠坐骨神经夹闭法建立坐骨神经损伤实验模型。造模成功后 1 周开始，每天进行 1 次 15 分钟的 EA 刺激，共 7 天。通过坐骨神经功能指数（SFI）测试来评估坐骨神经功能的恢复情况。通过甲苯胺蓝染色神经样本进行形态计量学分析。通过 Western blot 检测自噬相关蛋白水平。
EA 刺激 GB30 和 ST36 显著增加了我们的坐骨神经损伤大鼠模型中髓鞘纤维、轴突和纤维直径以及髓鞘厚度的数量。此外，EA 刺激极大地促进了坐骨神经损伤后的神经再生。而且，EA 刺激抑制了坐骨神经损伤诱导的自噬。
EA 促进了受损坐骨神经的恢复，并抑制了大鼠模型中的自噬。
