Effect of electroacupuncture on urodynamics of neurogenic bladder and PACAP/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway in detrusor tissue of rats after suprasacral spinal cord injury

Abstract

To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on urodynamics of neurogenic bladder and pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide(PACAP)/cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A(PKA) signaling pathway in detrusor tissue of rats after suprasacral spinal cord injury (SCI), so as to explore its possible mechanism in improving detrusor hyperreflexia bladder function after shock stage of suprasacral SCI. Female SD rats were randomly divided into control, sham operation, model and EA groups, with 12 rats in each group. T10 spinal cord transection (SCT) was performed by surgery. Rats in the EA group were given EA (10 Hz/50 Hz, 20 min) at "Ciliao" (BL32), "Zhongji" (CV3) and "Sanyinjiao" (SP6) once daily for 7 days. After the intervention, urodynamics testing was detected in each group. HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of bladder detrusor. The protein and mRNA expression of PACAP38 in detrusor was detected by immunohistochemistry, Western blot and real-time quantitive PCR, respectively. The contents of cAMP and PKA were determined by ELISA. Compared with the control and sham operation groups, the maximum bladder capacity and bladder com-pliance, and the protein and mRNA expression of PACAP38, and the contents of cAMP and PKA of the model group were significantly decreased (P<0.01, P<0.05), while the base pressure and leakage point pressure of bladder were significantly increased (P<0.01). After EA intervention, the above indexes were all reversed in the EA group relevant to those of the model group (P<0.01, P<0.05). EA at BL32, CV3 and SP6 can improve the bladder function in rats with bladder detrusor hyperreflexia after SCI, which may be related to its effect in activating the PACAP/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway in detrusor tissue.