[Study on the mechanism of electroacupuncture scalp point penetration therapy in action on apoptosis in the Parkinson's disease rat model]

Abstract

Objective: To explore the mechanism of electroacupuncture scalp point penetration therapy in treatment of the Parkinson's disease (PD).

Methods: Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a sham-operation group, a model group and an electroacupuncture (EA) group. 6-OHDA was injected into the left striatum to make lateralization PD rat model. Acupuncture at "Baihui" (GV 20)-through-"Taiyang" (EX-HN 5), once each day, 6 days constituting one course. Immunohistochemical method was used to observe the facio-density and the integral optical density of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the left substantia nigra, and TUNEL method was used to observe the apoptotic amount, and high performance liquid chromatography was used to observe DA contents of the left striatum in each group.

Results: As compared with the model group, in the acupuncture group, the facio-density and the integral optical density in the left substantia nigra increased significantly (P < 0.05), the amount of apoptosis decreased significantly (P < 0.05), and the content of striatum DA increased significantly (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: EA scalp point-through-point therapy may enhance BDNF protein expression level in the substantia nigra to decrease the amount of apoptosis in the PD model rat.