Effect Of Acupuncture On Governing Vessel And Jiaji Points On The Endogenous Neural Stem Cells Following Injuried Spinal Cord

Background The attack rate of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is growing up year by year becausethe modern transportation and industry is developing fast. SCI often appears after the injury ofspinal column. The SCI patients usually have got the motor function loss caudal to the injury site.The most important pathologic physiology mechanism of SCI is the neuron apoptosis. In recentempirical study in the world, Neural Stem Cells(NSCs) was becoming an emphasis to cure SCIday by day. Some studies show that, acupuncture could promote the potential of the endogenousneural stem cell proliferation after SCI in animals. There were also some clinic cases report thatto treat the SCI by acupuncture on Governing Vessel and Jiaji Points had achieved a soundcurative effect. Therefore, we assumed that acupuncture on Governing Vessel and Jiaji Pointscould promote the proliferation of endogenous neural stem cells to cure SCI and improve the lossof motor function caudal to the injury site.Purpose To study the effect on the functional recovery as well as the proliferation ofendogenous neural stem cells by performing acupuncture on Governing Vessel and Jiaji points inthe rats after spinal cord injury. Furthermore, to analysis the possible mechanisms of theproliferation of endogenous neural stem cells as well as the relationship between the functionalrecovery and proliferation of neural stem cells. Finally, to offer the theoretical prooves of theacupuncture-therapy on the spinal cord injury.Methods 50 adult SD rats' spinal cord were made acute severe injured at the T₁₀ level withipv.Allen WD method. These rats were randomly divided into three groups: 2 in Blank group, 24in acupuncture group and 24 in control group. Blank group was sacrificed 4 hours after SCI tocheck the damage of the spinal cord by HE stain. Acupuncture group and control group were randomly divided into four time points. In acupuncture group, acupuncture was performed oncedaily on Governing Vessel and Jiaji points. Acupuncrure was not performed in control group.Bromodeoxyuridine(BrdU) was administered intraperitoneally twice daily in the three days beforhart perfusion to label the proliferating cells. Open field and inclined plane tests were performedto test the function of the rear limbs at 1, 14, 30, 60, 90 day after surgery. Acupuncture group andcontrol group were sacrificed at day 14, 30, 60 and 90 after surgery. Then HE stain wasperformed to observe the alterations of spinal cord at every time point in both group. Andanti-BrdU immunohistochemistry was performed to observe and compare the BrdU-positivecells counting and distribution in the spinal cord of both group.Results Blank group with HE stain showed that the constitution of the spinal cord wasminody destroyed, and the destruction mainly occurred in the dorsi-spinal cord. There wereslight hemorrhage and necrosis diffusely in the gray matter, the fibers in the white matter werehydropic degeneration. Acupuncture group had a significant improvement than control group inneurological function evaluated by open field and inclined plane test(P＜0.05), functionalimprovement was paralleled by how long the time of therapy was. Pathologic reconstitution andneuronal degeneration of the injured spinal cord were aggravating in control group, adversely,they were reversible in acupuncture group. The number of BrdU-positive cells in acupuncturegroup was significantly different from that in control group at every time point(P＜0.01).Conclusion Acupuncture on Governing Vessel and Jiaji points can improve theneurological function of the rear limbs, stop the pathologic reconstitution and neuronaldegeneration in the injured spinal cord, and promote the proliferation of endogenous neural stemcells in situ following spinal cord injury of rats short-termly(14d) and long-termly(90d). Theproliferation of endogenous neural stem cells may play a key effect on the neurological functionrecovery. The most of the BrdU-positive cells distributed in the dorsi-spinal cord. There weremore BrdU-positive cells in the caudal injured spinal than in the injured spinal, there were leastBrdU-positive cells in the rostro-lateral injured spinal.