[Effect of electroacupuncture on expression of myocardial PI 3 K, HIF-1alpha and VEGF in rats with cerebral-cardiac syndrome].

Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the expression of myocardial 1-phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3 K), hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in rats with cerebral-cardiac syndrome (CCS), so as to reveal its mechanism underlying reducing ischemic myocardial injury.

Methods: Forty SD rats were randomly and equally divided into sham-operation, model, EA and non-acupoint (the lateral-superior side of the hip) groups (10 rats/group). CCS model was established by injection of collagenase (1 U/microL) and heparin (7 U/microL) into the right caudate nucleus. Following modeling, EA (1.5 mA, 2 Hz, 20 min) was applied to "Shuigou" (GV 26), "Fengfu" (GV 16), "Neiguan" (PC 6) and "Xinshu" (BL 15) acupoints, once daily for three consecutive days. The expression levels of PI 3 K,HIF-1alpha and VEGF in the myocardium were detected by immunohistochemistry.

Results: Compared with the sham-operation group, the expression levels of myocardial PI 3 K, HIF-1a and VEGF proteins were significantly increased in the model group (P<0.01). While in comparison with the model group, there were little increase in the non-acupoint group (P>0.05) and considerable increase in the expression levels of the 3 myocardial proteins in the EA group (P<0.05).

Conclusion: EA intervention has a function in upregulating the expression of myocardial VEGF, HIF-1alpha and PI 3 K proteins in CCS rats, which maybe contribute to its protective effect on ischaemic myocardial injury.