1.Effects of Electroacupuncture on Morphology Repairment and Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor/Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase Signal Pathway of Rabbits with Acute Lumbar Muscle Contusion
Huan CHEN ; Bo PENG ; Fuyun LI ; Xue YU ; Huying LU ; Xiaoyan WEI ; Yuanyuan PENG ; Yinfan FAN ; Li ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Rehabilitation Theory and Practice 2014;(3):215-220
Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture on basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), Desmin and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) expression of rabbits with acute lumbar muscle contusion, and discuss the possible mechanism of muscle tissue regeneration and repair. Methods 40 male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into blank group (BG, n=10), model group (MG, n=10), Weizhong (BL40) electroacupuncture group (WG, n=10) and local electroacupuncture group (LG, n=10). Lumbar muscle injury was established with blunt trauma, and the rabbits were assessed with Appearance Score. The WG and LG accepted electroacupuncture for 2 weeks after modeling. The lumbar muscle of each animal was stained with HE to observe pathological changes, and immunohistochemical staining was used to observe bFGF expression, and Western blotting was used to detect the expression of Desmin and ERK1/2 protein.Results Appearance Score was more in the MG, WG and LG than in the BG (P<0.01). Histological score ranked from more to less as MG,LG, WG and BG (P<0.05). The expression of bFGF ranked as LG, WG, MG and BG (P<0.01), Desmin ranked as WG=LG and BG=MG (P<0.05), ERK1/2 as LG=WG, MG and BG (P<0.05). Conclusion Electroacupuncture could promote the regeneration and repair of tissue after acute lumbar muscle contusion, which may be related to the up-regulation of bFGF/ERK signaling pathway.