Abstract
Gastric ulcer (GU), a common digestive disease, has a high incidence and seriously endangers health of human. According to the previous studies, it has been proved that electroacupuncture at acupoints of stomach meridian had a good effect on GU. However, there are few published studies on metabolic response in gastric ulcer (GU) rats with electroacupuncture treatment. Herein, we observed the metabolic profiles in biological samples (stomach, liver, and kidney) of GU rats with electroacupuncture treatment by 1H NMR metabolomics combined with pathological examination. The male SD rats were induced by intragastric administration of 70% ethanol after fasting for 24 hours and treated by electroacupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) and Liangmen (ST21) for 1 day, 4 days, or 7 days, respectively. And the conventional histopathological examinations as well as metabolic pathways assays were also performed. We found that GU rats were basically cured after electroacupuncture treatment for 4 days and had a complete recovery after electroacupuncture treatment for 7 days by being modulated comprehensive metabolic changes, involved in the function of neurotransmitters, energy metabolism, cells metabolism, antioxidation, tissue repairing, and other metabolic pathways. These findings may be helpful to facilitate the mechanism elucidating of electroacupuncture treatment on GU.
Highlights
Gastric ulcer (GU) is a common clinical disease characterized by rhythmic burning pain in upper abdomen and has s a high incidence rate of 10% [1]
The gastric mucosa of the rats in M2 group still showed a state of ulcer injury with a large number of inflammatory cells (in Figure 1(b2) and Figure S1 b2), while the rats in EA2 group showed that structure of the gastric mucosa was improved, the gland was clearer, and a small amount of inflammatory cells was infiltrated (in Figure 1(b3) and Figure S1 b3), suggesting that the GU rats were partly improved after electroacupuncture treatment for 4 days
For rats in EA3 group (in Figure 1(c3) and Figure S1 c3), the complete structure of the gastric mucosa and clear gland was neatly arranged with no inflammatory cell infiltration, which indicates that GU rats were completely cured after electroacupuncture treatment for 7 days
Summary
Gastric ulcer (GU) is a common clinical disease characterized by rhythmic burning pain in upper abdomen and has s a high incidence rate of 10% [1]. The modern medical treatment of GU mainly includes drugs of HP eradication and acid suppression as well as protection of gastric mucosa and so on. These treatments are limited in clinic because of side effects, high cost, and drug resistance, they have good effects in repairing gastric mucosal lesions [3]. Electroacupuncture is an improved version of acupuncture which can improve the clinical effect by increasing stimulation by delivering appropriate electrical pulses to needles [5]. It has been reported that electroacupuncture had a good effect on GU [6, 7]. There are few studies on the therapeutic mechanism elucidating of electroacupuncture treatment on GU
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