Effect Of Acupuncture On Sleep Time And 5 - HT And DA Contents In Striatum Of Rats With Stress - Induced Gastric Ulcer

With the development of society and the increase in work stress, stress-induced gastric ulcer has become more common, and if a hemorrhage complication occurs, death rates reach above 50% heavily affecting patients’ quality of life. Stress Ulcer (SU) is an ulcer caused by many etiological factors that can cause hyperemia in the gastric mucosa, edema, multiple erosions etc. In severe cases, it can cause perforation and even death. SU is also known as Acute Stress Mucosal Lesion (ASML).SU can be categorized under gastric cavity, acid regurgitation etc. in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Gastrointestinal lesions can manifest not only with local symptoms, but can also be accompanied with sleeping disorder. Large amounts of ancient TCM literature has recorded that there are a close correlation between the two. Neijing suggested the theory, "Gastric disorder brings a disturbed sleep". As pointed out in Suwen Nitiaolun, "Yangming, meridian of the Stomach, and the sea of the six Fu-organs. Its qi descends. If reversed, its law will break, causing insomnia." Xiajing also suggested, "Hence, gastric disorder brings a disturbed sleep". TCM theory believes that the spleen and stomach are the source of qi and blood, and is also the hub for ascending and descending of Qi. If such function becomes abnormal, it will affect the transportation of Nutrient and Defense Qi, bringing a disharmony between the two, inhibiting the heart to be nourished, bringing insomnia.Through the perspective of the brain-gut axis and brain-gut interaction, modern medicine found out that there is some connection between gastrointestinal lesions and sleeping disorder. Some clinical research has also proved such theory. However, research on the mechanism of how such theory is scarce, and the mechanism of how acupuncture regulates gastrointestinal lesions and sleep are still unclear.Therefore, this experiment selected SU rat models as the entry point, and using acupuncture as the intervention and using the method of regulating stomach and soothing nerves as the acupoint selection principle, researches the correlation between SU and sleep as well as the mechanism of the acupuncture treatment.Objective:Using SU rat models as the subject, and penetrating differnt acupoints, Paw Withdrawal Thermal Latency (PWTL), pentobarbital sodium induced sleeping duration, Ulcer Index (UI) changes, were explored, and using 5-HT and DA as the target, a preliminary step was taken to explore the correlation between the stomach and sleep, and the mechanism of sleeping duration affected by stimulation of different acupoints, hoping to provide an experiment based evidience for the theory "Gastric disorder brings a disturbed sleep".Method:(1) 40 Healthy male Wistar rats were fed freely for 1 week and are then randomly allocated into normal control group, model group, ST36-CV12 group, BL62-KI6 group and combined group with 8 rats each.(2) Model rats are create with gastric gavage using ethanol. Rats of ST36-CV12 group had Zhongwan and Shenmai penetrated with needle. BL62-KI6 had Shenmai and Zhaohai of both sides penetrated while combined group had all four acupoints penetrated. Needle penetration lasted for 20 minutes, and was repeated for five days.(3) After the last needle penetration, the rats’PWTL changes were tested, and are then injected with 2% Pentobarbital Sodium at 40mg/kg to induce sleep. The sleeping duration was recorded.(4) Rat mucosa changes were observed and UI was calculated using the Guth method.(5) HPLC-ECD was used to test 5-HT and DA levels in the Striatum.Results:(1) Gastric Mucosa Histomorphology:Normal control group rats’mucosa was smooth with no hyperemia, hemorrhage, or erosions, and the corrugated wall was regulated. Model group rats had a darker colour. Large hemorrhages could be seen and corrugated wall became shallow with ulcers formed. All treatment groups’hemorrhage places were smaller than the model group with smaller ulcers and a clearer corrugated wall.(2) Gastric UI:Compared with the normal control group, all other four groups’UI were higher (p<0.01); Compared with the model group, all treatment groups’UI were lower (p<0.01); Compared with the BL62-KI6 group, ST36-CV12 group and combined group had a lower UI (p<0.05, p<0.01); ST36-CV12 and combined group had no statistical difference (p>0.05).(3) PWTL:Compared with the normal control group, the model, ST36-CV12, BL62-KI6 groups duration decreased (p<0.01); Compared with the model group, BL62-KI6 group had an increase (p<0.05) with the ST36-CV12 and combined group increased drastically (p<0.01); Compared with the ST36- CV12 and BL62-KI6 group, the compared group increased (p<0.01); there was no statistical difference between ST36-CV12 and BL62-KI6 group.(4) Sleeping Duration:Compared with the normal control group, the model, ST36-CV12 and BL62-KI6 group had a decrease in sleeping time (p<0.01); Compared with the model group, all treatment groups had an increase in sleeping time (p<0.01); Compared with the combined group, the ST36-CV12 and the BL62-KI6 group had an increase (p<0.01); ST36-CV12 and BL62-KI6 group had no statistical difference (p>0.05).(5) PTWL and Sleeping duration correlation:Using spearman and kendall correlation coefficient analysis:Kendall correlation coefficient= 0.536, P=0.000<0.01, Spearman correlation coefficient=0.708, p=0.000<0.01. A positive correlation exists.(6) Striatum 5-HT levels:Compared with the normal control group, the model group 5-HT levels increased (p<0.05); compared with the model group, the ST36-CV12 5-HT dropped (p<0.01); There was no statistical difference between the ST36-CV12 and combined group.(7) Striatum DA levels:Compared with the normal control group, model and combined group had an increase in DA levels (p<0.01); compared with the model group, the ST36-CV12 group had a decrease in DA levels (p<0.01) Conclusion:(1) Model rats had large hemorrhage lesions, shallow corrugated walls and ulcers.(2) Acupuncture can decrease ulcer area, increase recovery, decrease gastric mucosa damage. Using all four acupoints had the best results.(3) Acupuncture can vastly increase PWTL duration, decreasing rats sensitivity to pain and increasing pain threshold.(4) Acupuncture can increase pentobarbital sodium induced sleep duration.(5) Acupuncture can regulate 5-HT and DA levels in the Striatum, especially after penetrating Zusanli and Zhongwan.(6) Acupuncture can increase the recovery of gastric mucosa as well as improved pentobarbital induced sleep. This can be due to the change in 5-HT and DA levels in the Striatum.