Effect of Acupuncture Pretreatment on Angiogenesis in Rats with Vascular Cognitive Impairment After Stroke
Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture pretreatment on angiogenesis in rats with post-stroke vascular cognitive impairment(PSVCI).Methods Forty-eight SPF male Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats(5 to 6 weeks)were divided into blank control,model,acupuncture,and medication groups by random number table,with 12 in each group.The groups were further divided into 7-day and 14-day subgroups each,with 6 in each group.The acupunc-ture group received needling at Baihui(GV 20),Shuigou(GV 26),bilateral Fengchi(GB 20),Neiguan(PC 6),and Shenmen(HT 7).The medication group was intraperitoneally injected with flunarizine hydrochloride suspension.The intervention for the acupuncture and medication groups was once daily for 7 consecutive days.The model group was raised under normal conditions for 7 days,and the blank control group received no treatment.After 7 days,PSVCI rat model was induced in the acupuncture,medication,and model groups by permanently ligating the bilateral common carotid arteries.After 1 week of normal feeding,immunohistochemistry was used in each 7-day subgroup to determine the average optical density(AOD)of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)protein;Western blot to measure the expressions of VEGF protein;fluorescence quantitative PCR to detect the relative expressions of Notch1 and Dll4.Additionally,after 2 weeks,Morris water maze test was performed in each 14-day subgroup to evaluate the learning and memory abilities of the rats.Results The 14-day subgroups of the medication and model groups exhibited prolonged average escape latency and reduced time spent in the platform quadrant compared with the 14-day subgroup of the acupuncture group(P＜0.05,P＜0.01).The 14-day sub-group of the acupuncture group showed extended average escape latency and increased time spent in the platform quadrant compared with the blank control group((P＜0.05,P＜0.05).Immunohistochemical results indicated that both subgroups of the acupuncture group had higher AOD values of VEGF protein than those in the subgroups of the medication group(P＜0.05),and these values were also higher compared with the model group(P＜0.05).Western blot revealed that the the subgroups of the acupuncture group had higher expressions of VEGF protein than those of the medication group(P＜0.01,P＜0.05)and the model group(P＜0.05).The qPCR results showed increased relative expression of Notch1 mRNA in the 7-day and 14-day subgroups of the acupuncture group compared with the condition in the subgroups of the medication group(P＜0.01)and the model group(P＜0.05).The relative expression of Dll4 mRNA were also elevated in the two subgroups of the acupuncture group compared with the condition in the subgroups of the medication group(P＜0.01)and model group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Early acupuncture intervention using the Tongdu Tiaoshen method could effectively increase VEGF protein and the relative expression of Notch1 and Dll4 mRNA in the brain tissues of PSVCI rats,promoting angiogenesis in hippocampal and brain tissues and thereby proactively protecting the cognitive function of PSVCI rats.
万方数据
维普
