Protective Effects Of Acupoint Application Therapy In Rats With Sleep Deprivation

Objective: To investigate the protective effects of acupoint application therapy in rats with sleep deprivation, and explore the effective mechanism from modulation of neuroendocrine and gene expression.Methods: 80 rats were divided into four groups randomly: sleep deprivation group (SD); blank control group (BC); test group (TG) and cage control group (CO , each group contained 20 rats. Rats of SD ,BC and TG groups were deprived of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep for 96h by the "flower pot" technique, and paste with Eleutheroside as the main component was applied on the acupoints of "shenque (RN8)" of TG group rats meanwhile. Levels of blood Lactic Acid(LA), serum Cortisol(COR) and Testosterone(T) were detected to evaluate the influence of REMSD on rats and the protective effects of acupoint application therapy. Furthermore, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the GLU and GAB A content in three regions of rat brains: frontal cortex, brain stem and hypothalamus, and the expression of glutamate acid decarboxylase 67,000Mw (GAD67) mRNA in certain regions of rat brains was measured by in situ hybridization (ISH) and image analysis system.Results: 96h REMSD induced deep central fatigue status, increased blood LA and serum COR levels, and decreased content of serum T in rats. Changes of amino acid neurotransmitter and expression of GADeTmRNA were also observed in rats brain after REMSD: GAB A and ratios of GAB A/GLU significantly increased in all of the three detected brain regions, and the expression of GADgymRNA in rat brain was upregulated by REMSD. In comparison with BC and SD groups, rats of TG group showed mild response to REMSD in fatigue status, blood LA and serum T levels(P<0.01). GABA and ratios of GABA/GLU in TG group increased lesser than that of TC and SD groups(P<0.01). GAD67mRNA expression level of TG group is also lower compared with that of TC and SD groups(P<0.01).Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate definite protective effects of acupoint application therapy in rats with sleep deprivation, and the comprehensive effects of cutaneous absorption together with acupomt local stimulation on the modulating of neuroendocrine systems and gene expression may explain the mechanism of this external therapy.