The Experimental Study Of Mongolian Medical Warm Acupuncture On Cell Apoptosis In CCI Model Rats

Objective:This study was conducted to explore whether Mongolian medical warm acupuncture as a potent analgesic therapy against apoptosis expression,histological damage and cytokines production in dorsal root ganglia,sciatic nerve and serum of chronic constrictive injury(CCI)rat model.Method:Healthy SPF level 50 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 200± 20 g are randomly divided into 5 groups according to the random number table after 7-days adaption: the control group,the sham group,the model group and the warm group(n=10 per group).Chronic constrictive injury was induced as previously described by Bennett and Xie.The model group,drug group and warm group were conducted with four 4-0 chronic gut ligatures loosely ligated around the right sciatic nerve 1 cm above the trifurcation as described previously.What's more,in sham-operated rats,the same procedure of CCI surgery was performed without ligation of the nerves.The preoperative day,one week after surgery,two week after surgery,three week after surgery,four week after surgery,the baseline data of behavior study(MWTs,TWLs)were investigated to eliminate the possible deviation.And 15 days after the CCI model was built,the therapy was performed into rats and the administration lasted 15 days.During the administration,the behavior studies were conducted per week.The warm group received the Mongolian medical warm acupuncture treatment(15min,45?)once daily from day 15 to day 30 after surgery without interval.The drug group was given ibuprofen(0.1g/Kg)for 15 days.The other 3 groups were handled without any intervention.After last therapy,the blood,sciatic nerve and spinal cord tissues were harvested for the Elisa assay and other histological studies.Result:1.The data of TWLs on 1w? 2w? 3w?4w after surgery in model group is higher and MWTs is lower than the control group(P<0.001,P<0.001).Also 4w after surgery,the data of TWLs in warm and drug group were obviously lower and MWTs is higher than the model group(P<0.001,P<0.001).Mongolian medical warm acupuncture could obviously decrease the TWLs and increase the MWTs,and promoted sensation recovery after chronic constrictive injury.2.No histological damages occurred in the control group and sham group.Furthermore,no medullated fibers and inflammatory cell infiltration were observed in sham group.After the surgical procedure,the injury resulted in various histological changes as examples myelin sheet swelling and vacuolization in the CCI model group.In the warm group,regenerated nerve fibers are seen,but no inflammatory cell infiltration.The structure of nerve fibers and myelin sheath were better than the model group.Mongolian medical warm acupuncture could effectively promoted the recovery of nerve histological damages;3.Compared with the control group,the level of IL-1?,IL-6 and TNF-? was increased in the model group(P<0.001).Also compared with the model group,the level of IL-1?,IL-6 and TNF-? was decreased in the warm and drug group(P<0.001,P<0.001).Mongolian medical warm acupuncture could obviously decrease the the level of IL-1?,IL-6 and TNF-?,and inhibited the inflammatory process;4.Compared with the control group,the level of Fas,FasL,Caspase-8 was increased in the model group(P<0.001).Also compared with the model group,the level of Fas,Fas-L,Caspase-8 was decreased in the warm and drug group(P<0.001,P<0.01).Mongolian medical warm acupuncture could obviously decrease the level of Fas,Fas-L,Caspase-8,and inhibited the cell apoptosis process.Conclusion:Mongolian medical warm acupuncture may exert analgesic effect via inhibit the cell apoptosis,suppress the inflammation and promote the recovery of sciatic nerve.