Abstract
Acupuncture is widely recognized as an effective therapy for premature ovarian failure (POF) in clinical, but information about its potential mechanisms is rarely explored. To investigate the mechanism, fifty SD female rats were randomly divided into normal group, POF group, POF+estradiol-valerate group (abbreviated as estradiol group), and POF+acupuncture group (abbreviated as acupuncture group). The estrous cycle of the rats was tracked by vaginal smears. Their ovaries morphology was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The apoptotic level of granulosa cells was detected by in situ TUNEL fluorescence staining assay. Serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estrogen (E2) levels were measured by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (ELISA). Protein and gene expression of PI3K, Akt, bcl-2, and bax were detected by Western blotting and qPCR. In the acupuncture and estradiol groups, compared with the POF group as controls, the apoptosis number of granulosa cells was significantly decreased (p < 0.05). FSH levels were decreased, while E2 levels were increased (p > 0.05). The gene and protein expression levels of PI3K, Akt, and bcl-2 were increased, while the expression levels of bax were decreased (p < 0.05), and the protein expression level of p-Akt increased. There was no significant difference between the acupuncture group and the estradiol group (p > 0.05). Acupuncture was able to regulate hormone levels in POF rats, up-regulate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and reduce the apoptosis of granulosa cells. This may be one of the mechanisms of acupuncture treating premature ovarian failure.
Highlights
Premature ovarian failure (POF) is commonly used to describe women under the age of 40, whose basic manifestations are amenorrhea, high gonadotropin, hypogonadism, and infertility [1]
According to the research of Han Zhang [8], POF female mice treated by electroacupuncture were mated with male mice, and the final result was that the number of litters in the electroacupuncture group increased compared with the model group (p < 0.05), which indicated that acupuncture has the effect of protecting fertility
After treatment, compared with the POF group, the estrous cycle of acupuncture group and estradiol group gradually returned to normal, whose reduction of vaginal exfoliated cells was improved, but the number of vaginal exfoliated cells was still less than that of the normal group (Figure 1)
Summary
Premature ovarian failure (POF) is commonly used to describe women under the age of 40, whose basic manifestations are amenorrhea, high gonadotropin, hypogonadism, and infertility [1]. A large number of clinical studies have shown that we have used the acupuncture therapy, a unique treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, to treat POF, which makes the total effective rate of treatment reach more than 89%. It can regulate the function of the female reproductive endocrine system, it stimulates the development of follicles in the ovary to restore ovarian reserve function and promote ovulation [6,7]. Acupuncture is more conducive to clinical promotion and application, but its mechanism of action is unclear and needs further exploration and interpretation
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