[Effect of Electroacupuncture on Expression of Apelin-APJ System of Cerebral Vascular Endothelial Cell in Rats with Cerebral Infarction].

Objective: To observe the regulation of APJ and its ligand Apelin on the angiogenesis pathway after cerebral infarction and the intervention effect of acupuncture.

Methods: Wistar rats were randomly divided into model group(=90), electroacupuncture(EA) group(=90), sham operation group(=90) and control group(=10). The first three groups were further divided into 1,3,6,9,12,24 h and 3,7, 12 d subgroups(=10 in each subgroup). The cerebral infarction model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). EA(15 Hz, 2 mA) was applied to "Shuigou" (GV 26) for 20 min in the EA group. The 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 24 h subgroups were treated immediately after modeling, the 3, 7, 9 d subgroups were treated once daily for 3, 7 or 9 days. Real-time fluorescent quantitative (RT-PCR) and Western blot were applied to detect the changes of Apelin and APJ in cerebrovascular endothelial cells, respectively.

Results: Compared with the control group, the expression of Apelin-APJ mRNA was decreased in the model group(12 h, 12 d, <0.05, <0.01); After EA, the Apelin mRNA expression was increased in the 12 h and 7 d subgroups (<0.01), while the APJ mRNA expression was increased in the 6, 9, 12 h subgroups(<0.05, <0.01). Compared with the control group, the Apelin(1, 3, 6, 24 h and 3, 7, 12 d) and APJ(1, 3, 6, 9 h and 3 d) protein expressions were decreased in the model group(<0.01, <0.05); After EA, the Apelin protein expression was increased in the 6, 24 h and 3, 7, 12 d subgroups (<0.05, <0.01), while the APJ protein expression was increased in the 1, 9, 12, 24 h and 3, 7, 12 d subgroups (<0.05, <0.01).

Conclusions: EA can up-regulate the expression of Apelin-APJ mRNA and protein of cerebral vascular endothelial cell in MCAO rats which has an important role in the establishment of blood vessel regeneration and collateral circulation.