Electroacupuncture Has Effects On Inflammatory Response Via Regulation Of Phenotype Of Macrophage In Rats After Spinal Cord Injury

Background: Spinal cord injury(SCI)is a kind of severe traumatic disease,which has a higher morbidity and mortality,spinal cord injury is still no effective treatment for sure in clinic.Spinal cord injury is an important,basic science and clinical research focus.Macrophages/microglia are important effector cells at the site of SCI.M1-type macrophages facilitate innate immunity to remove foreign microbes and wound debris from the injury site.M2-type macrophages exhibit tissue repair properties and attenuate production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.Regulation of the polarisation of M1/M2 macrophages may affect the inflammatory response in SCI and may be related to.neurotrophin-3(NT-3).Electroacupuncture(EA)at GV acupuncture points can be used as an adjuvant therapy for SCI.Objective: Observe the effects of electroacupuncture on inflammatory response via it's regulation to phenotype of macrophage in rats after spinal cord injury and preliminarily discuss it's mechanism.Methods: A rat SCI model was induced by spinal segment transection at T10 in 16Sprague-Dawley rats.A further eight rats were included as a Control group.Ten surviving SCI model rats were divided into two groups(n=5 each): a SCI group that remained untreated;and a SCI+EA group that received EA at GV6 and GV9.We investigated the effects of EA on Basso,Beattie and Bresnahan(BBB)functional evaluation and inflammatory cytokines(tumour necrosis factor(TNF)-?,interleukin(IL)-1?,IL-6 and IL-10),proportions of M1/M2 macrophages,and further considered the underlying mechanism.Results: EA improved BBB scores,inhibited the proportion of M1 macrophages and TNF-?,IL-1? and IL-6 levels,and down-regulated the M1 marker CD86.By contrast,EA enhanced IL-10,the proportion of M2 macrophages and up-regulated the M2 marker CD206 and NT-3 expression.Conclusions: EA had a positive impact on SCI model rats,which may be related to the neuroprotective effect of NT-3,which may increase the polarisation of M2microglia/macrophages.