Effects of Acupuncture on Expression of Cholesterol Reverse Transport Receptors in Liver of Atherosclerotic Rabbits
Objective To observe the effects of electroacupuncture intervention at"Neiguan(PC6)","Guanyuan(ST25)"and"Zusanli"(ST36)on the gene and protein expressions of liver cholesterol reversal transport receptor ABCA1,ABCG1 and SR-BⅠ in rabbits with atherosclerosis(AS),and explore the possible mechanism of electroacupuncture treatment of AS.Methods 26 male New Zealand rabbits were randomly selected as the negative control group(7 rabbits)and the modeling group(19 rabbits).The negative control group was fed with regular feed,and the modeling group was prepared using a combination of high-fat feed-ing and carotid artery balloon injury surgery.After successful modeling,the modeling group rabbits were randomly divided into AS model group(6 rabbits),electroacupuncture treatment group(6 rabbits)and Western medicine treatment group(6 rabbits).The AS model group was not treated,while the electroacupuncture treatment group used electroacupuncture at the rabbit's"Neiguan"(PC6),"Zusanli"(ST36)and"Guanyuan"(ST25).The output waveform was a dense wave,with a current of 1 mA and a fre-quency of 4 Hz/20 Hz,once a day.The needle was left for 20 minutes for each time and 6 days was considered as a course of treatment,with 4 courses of treatment.In the western medicine treatment group,Atorvastatin Calcium Tablets were made into a suspension and given to rabbits by gavage.The dose was 1 mg/(kg·d),once a day,20 mL for each time.Six days was a course of treatment,with four courses of treatment.After the treatment,rabbit liver tissues were collected and HE staining was used to observe the liver pathophysiology.The mRNA expression levels of ABCA1,ABCG1 and SR-BⅠ were detected by RT-PCR.The protein expression levels of ABCA1,ABCG1 and SR-BⅠ were detected by Western Blot.Results Compared with the nega-tive control group,the liver tissue structure of the AS model group was disordered,and the hepatic sinus was compressed and nar-rowed.The volume of liver cells increased,the cytoplasm was loose,and fat vacuoles were observed.Compared with those in the AS model group,the liver cells in the electroacupuncture treatment group and the western medicine treatment group were arranged in cords,and the hepatic blood sinus was seen between the cell cords.The liver cells were round,the liver structure recovered to be normal,and the fat vacuoles were significantly reduced.Compared with those of the negative control group,the mRNA and pro-tein contents of ABCA1,ABCG1 and SR-BⅠ in the liver of the AS model group were significantly decreased,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.001).Compared with those in the AS model group,the mRNA and protein contents of AB-CA1,ABCG1 and SR-BⅠ in the liver of rabbits in the electroacupuncture treatment group and the western medicine treatment group were significantly increased,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.001).Compared with those in the elec-troacupuncture treatment group,the expressions of ABCA1 and ABCG1 mRNA in the liver of rabbits in the western medicine treatment group was slightly increased,while the expression of SR-BⅠ mRNA was slightly decreased,and the difference was sta-tistically significant(P＜0.01).At the protein level,the contents of ABCA1,ABCG1 and SR-BⅠ protein in the western medi-cine treatment group were slightly higher than those in the electroacupuncture treatment group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Electroa-cupuncture can improve the lipid metabolism of liver tissue to a certain extent,and promote the expressions of ABC A1,ABCG1,SR-BⅠ mRNA and protein in the liver of AS rabbits.The therapeutic effect is close to that of atorvastatin calcium,which proves that electroacupuncture has a certain effect on atherosclerosis.
atherosclerosisacupuncturecholesterol reverse transport receptors
万方数据
维普
