[Study on the central mechanism of acupuncture for post-stroke spasticity based on the Na/K-ATPase-EAATs-Glu pathway].

Objective: To observe the effect of acupuncture at "Yanglingquan" (GB34) and "Baihui" (GV20) on Na/K-ATPase, excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) and glutamate (Glu) in hippocampus of post-stroke spasticity rats, so as to explore the central mechanism in anti-spasticity.

Methods: In a total of 48 healthy SD rats, 12 rats were randomly selected to be included into sham operation group, and the remaining rats were used to make a middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model using a suture method. On the 3rd day after modeling, MCAO limb spasticity rats were screened by neurological deficit symptoms and muscle tension scores, and randomly divided into the model, GB34 (Hui-puncture at GB34) and GB34+GV20 (Hui-puncture at GB34 and horizontal insertion at GV20) groups (=12 rats in each group), and the treatment was lasted for 7 conse-cutive days. The neurological symptoms and muscle tension score were observed with the Zea Longa score and modified Ashworth scale (MAS). The levels of Glu, EAAT1 (GLAST) and EAAT2 (GLT-1) in the ischemic area of cerebral hippocampus were detected by ELISA, the expression of Na/K-ATPase α1 (ATP1α1) was detected by Western blot, the expression of ATP1α1 mRNA was detected by real-time PCR, and the expression of GLAST, GLT-1 and ATP1α1 was detected by immunofluorescence.

Results: After modeling, Zea Longa score and MAS score were increased (<0.01), the level of Glu in the ischemic area of cerebral hippocampus was increased (<0.01), while the expression levels of GLAST, GLT-1, ATP1α1 protein and mRNA were all decreased (<0.01) in the model group relevant to the sham operation group. After 7 days' treatment, all the increased and decreased levels of the indexes mentioned above were reversed in the two acupuncture groups relevant to the model group (<0.01, <0.05), and the effects of acupuncture at GB34+GV20 were obviously superior to that of acupuncture at GB34 (<0.05, <0.01).

Conclusion: Acupuncture can alleviate post-stroke spasticity effectively, which may be related to its effect in up-regulating the expressions of Na/K-ATPase and EAATs in hippocampus. The anti-spastic effect of acupuncture at GB34+GV20 is superior to GB34 alone.