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. 2015 Feb 2;10(2):e0114226.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0114226. eCollection 2015.

Ameliorating effects of auricular electroacupuncture on rectal distention-induced gastric dysrhythmias in rats

Zhaohui Zhang  1 , Jieyun Yin  2 , Jiande D Z Chen  3
Affiliations

Ameliorating effects of auricular electroacupuncture on rectal distention-induced gastric dysrhythmias in rats

Zhaohui Zhang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Gastric slow waves (GSW) are known to regulate gastric motility and are impaired with rectal distention (RD). Electroacupuncture (EA) at body acupoints, such as ST 36, has been shown to improve gastric dysrhythmias; however, little is known about the possible effects of auricular electroacupuncture (AEA) on GSW. To study effects and possible mechanisms of AEA on RD-induced gastric dysrhythmias in rats, ten male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats implanted with gastric serosal electrodes were studied in two different experiments in fed state. Four sessions were performed in experiment 1 as follows: control (RD, no stimulation), RD+AEA, RD+EA at body points and RD+sham AEA. Two sessions were included in experiment 2 to study mechanisms of AEA: RD + atropine and RD + atropine + AEA. It was found that 1) RD significantly decreased the percentage of normal GSW from 89.8 ± 3.5% to 76.0 ± 3.3% (P<0.05); 2) AEA increased the percentage of normal GSW during RD to 94.0 ± 2.1% (P<0.05 vs. RD) via a reduction in the percentages of tachygastria and arrhythmia (P<0.05 vs. RD); 3) atropine blocked the ameliorating effect of AEA on RD-induced gastric dysrhythmias. Our results demonstrated that RD induces gastric dysrhythmias in fed state in rats. AEA improves RD-induced gastric dysrhythmias via the vagal pathway. AEA may have a therapeutic potential in treating gastric dysrhythmias.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Experimental protocol.
(A) GSW recordings in the fasting state at baseline and during RD; (B) GSW recordings in the fed state before and during RD or RD plus EA/AEA/sham-AEA; (C) GSW recordings in the fed state before RD and during RD at presence of atropine.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Effects of RD on GSW at different pressures in fasting state.
The percentage of normal GSW was not changed significantly (P>0.05) after RD with different pressure.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Effects of EA and AEA on RD-induced abnormal GSW.
The percentage of GSW decreased significantly after RD in Control and Sham AEA group (#P<0.05 RD vs baseline). While the abnormal GSW induced by RD were repaired significantly after using EA or AEA with RD (**P<0.05 RD plus EA/AEA vs RD). The effect between EA and AEA on repairing the impaired GSW induced by RD was no significant difference (P = 0.32).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Effects of RD on Dominant frequency (DF) and dominant power (DP) of GSW.
(A) DF was not altered significantly (P>0.05) after treatment comparing with that of baseline in each session. (B) EA at ST-36 increased DP of GSW significantly (*P<0.05, vs. baseline).
Figure 5
Figure 5. Typical GSW tracings in the fed state at different sessions.
(A) GSW on baseline. (B) GSW at RD session. (C) GSW at RD+AEA session. (D) GSW at RD+EA session. (E) GSW at RD+sham AEA session. (F) GSW at RD+atropine session. (G) GSW at RD+atropine+AEA session.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Effects of AEA on RD-induced gastric dysrhythmia.
EA reduced the percentage of bradygastria (B%) significantly during RD (#P<0.05, vs. RD). The percentage of tachygastrias (T%) decreased to 0% after using EA and AEA respectively during RD (＊P<0.05, vs. RD). The percentage of arrhythmia (A%) decreased significantly as well after using EA and AEA respectively during RD (※P<0.05, vs. RD).
Figure 7
Figure 7. Atropine blocked the preventive effect of AEA on RD-induced impairment in GSW.
There was no significant difference of the percentage of GSW among 3 sessions after RD, RD+atropine or RD+atropine+AEA respectively (P>0.05).
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