Changes of expression of angiogenic factor mRNA in the spinal cord of rat models of protruded intervertebral disc and the effects of electroacupuncture
10.3969/j.issn.1005-4847.2015.03.008
- VernacularTitle:椎间盘脱出模型大鼠脊髓血管生成因子 mRNA 的表达变化及电针对其影响
- Author:
Weipeng WU
;
Wei LI
;
Peng CHENG
;
Daixun JIANG
;
Wu CHEN
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Protruded intervertebral disc,model;
Angiogenic factors;
Electroacupuncture;
Rats
- From:
Acta Laboratorium Animalis Scientia Sinica
2015;(3):261-266
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective The purpose of this study was to determine the changes of expression of angiogenic factor mRNA in the spinal cord of rats with protruded intervertebral disc and the effects of electroacupuncture , and to analyze the role of electroacupuncture in the spinal microvascular angiogenesis .Method Eighteen healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into 3 groups:the electroacupuncture group , model group and sham-operated group .The protruded intervertebral disc models were generated by the left lateral and ventral spinal cord compression at T 13 using a self-made silicon sheet.Only the rats in the first group were treated by electroacupuncture once a day for consecutive 7 days.Spinal cord tissue samples were taken from the compression site at 7 days after operation .The mRNA levels of Ang-1, Tie-1, Ang-2, Tie-2, VEGF, Flt-1, caspase-3 and Tsp-1 were determined by RT-PCR, and the pathological changes of the spinal cord was examined using HE staining .Results The rats in the electroacupuncture treated group showed significantly im-proved hind leg function , a relatively complete spinal cord structure , and a clear boundary between grey and white matters . The expression levels of Ang-1, Ang-2, Tie-1, Tie-2, capase-3 and Tsp-1 in the spinal cord tissues of the model group were significantly higher than those of sham-operated group ( P<0.01 ) , but the levels of VEGF and Flt-1 between those two groups showed no significant difference (P>0.05).The expression levels of Ang-2, Tie-1, Tie-2, caspase-3 and Tsp-1 of the electroacupuncture group were significantly lower than those in the model group (P<0.01), while the expression levels of Ang-1, VEGF and Flt-1 were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05).All the indexes be-tween electroacupuncture and sham-operated groups showed no significant difference ( P>0.05 ) .Conclusions Our re-sults demonstrate that mRNA expression of relevant angiogenic factors were abnormal after spinal cord compression , while electroacupuncture can down-regulate the expression of Ang-2, Tie-2,Tsp-1 and caspase-3, and modulate the promoting and inhibiting factors of angiogenesis to return towards normal , therefore , to create beneficial conditions for the repair of spinal cord injuries .
