Effects of Electroacupuncture at Different Acupoints on Functional Dyspepsia Rats

Yue-Jie Li,Si-Ming Ma,Yu Wang,Jin Huang,Cun-Zhi Liu,Cheng-Xin Hu,Lu-Lu Lin,Ling-Yu Qi,Na-Na Yang,Jing-Wen Yang,Ying Li

doi:10.1155/2022/6548623

Abstract

Although, acupoint specificity is regarded as the core of scientific issues in electroacupuncture (EA), the difference of EA on treating functional dyspepsia (FD) at different acupoints is unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the different therapeutic effects of EA at lower extremity or abdominal acupoints on the mucosal integrity and lower-inflammatory response in FD. The intragastric administration of iodoacetamide (IA) was performed in 48 rats to establish the FD model. These rats were randomly divided into the control group, the model group and the six EA groups receiving stimulation at the lower extremity (ST36, ST37, and ST39) or abdominal acupoints (ST25, CV4, and CV12) separately. The open-field test (OFT) was measured after 8 weeks of IA, and gastric emptying was evaluated after 10 days of the EA treatment. The local inflammation markers of CD45, eosinophil major basic protein (EMBP), and the tight junction proteins ZO1 and Claudin3 were assessed by immunofluorescence in all groups. Western blot analysis showed that the EMBP and Occludin1 levels in the duodenal. EA at lower extremity acupoint ST36 could improve the gastric emptying. EA at lower extremity acupoints reduced the immunoreactivity of EMBP, but the CD45 was reregulated by the ST37 and ST39 acupoints. The lower extremity acupoints also ameliorated FD-tight junction protein in the expression of Claudin3 and ZO1. However, only the ST36 suppressed the expression of EMBP and recovered the expression of Occludin1. Similarly, the effect of EA at abdominal acupoints was not obvious either in facilitating gastric motility or in improving inflammatory and mucosal injury. EA at lower extremity and abdominal acupoints with the same stimulation parameters had different therapeutic effects in gastric emptying, intestinal mucosal integrity, and inflammation response, thus proving the specificity of acupoints.

Highlights

Functional dyspepsia (FD), the prevalent gastrointestinal disorder, is the presence of symptoms originating from the gastroduodenal region in the absence of any organic, systemic, or metabolic disease [1]
Acupoints at the lower extremity and abdominal acupoints are widely applied in functional gastrointestinal disorders, but study argued that electroacupuncture in the abdomen inhibited gastrointestinal motility [10]. Ma and his colleagues reported that low-intensity EA at abdominal acupoints cannot generate anti-inflammatory effects after LPS model [11]. erefore, this study aims to investigate the difference of electroacupuncture employed at the lower extremities and abdominal acupoints on the symptom of FD rats
Our study indicated that EA could significantly reduce the expression of eosinophil major basic protein (EMBP) in intestinal tissue no matter electroacupuncture at the lower extremity or abdominal acupoints with the high-intensity (2 mA). ere were, a number of reasons why it is difficult to treat leukocytes, one of which might be considered as CD45 lacked specificity

Summary

Introduction

Functional dyspepsia (FD), the prevalent gastrointestinal disorder, is the presence of symptoms originating from the gastroduodenal region in the absence of any organic, systemic, or metabolic disease [1]. It affected 8% to 12% of the worldwide population and substantially impaired the quality of life. Despite the common occurrence of FD with considerable healthcare expenses and impact on the quality of life, the current treatment options are limited. Effective and convenient treatment with a low risk of adverse effects remains to be developed

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