Abstract
Electroacupuncture (EA) has been used to treat numerous diseases, including hypertension. This study aimed to investigate the long-term effect and underlying mechanisms of EA stimulation at the LI11 point on the hypertension and sympathetic nerve activity in two-kidney, one-clip (2K1C) hypertensive rats. EA (0.1–0.4 mA, 2 and 15 Hz) was applied to the acupoints LI11 overlying the deep radial nerve once a day for 6 weeks. The mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were determined by radiotelemetry, and the sympathetic nerve activity was evaluated by telemetric analyses of the low-frequency component of blood pressure (BP) and by plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine levels. The results showed 6 weeks of EA significantly lowered the increased BP effectively, inhibited the enhanced sympathetic nerve activities and attenuated cardiac hypertrophy in 2K1C hypertensive rats. The level of orexin receptor-1 (OX1R) in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) after EA treatment was markedly reduced in 2K1C rats, while there was no difference in the RVLM expression of orexin receptor-2 (OX2R) in 2K1C and 2K1C+EA rats. Moreover, the increased pressor and depressor responses to microinjection of orexin A or OX1R antagonist SB408124 into the RVLM of 2K1C rats were significantly blunted by the EA treatment. These findings suggest that BP-lowering effect of EA on renovascular hypertension may be through inhibition of central sympathetic activities and modulation of functional orexin receptors in the RVLM.
Highlights
Hypertension is the most common risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death
Treatment at LI11 acupoints was applied for 6 weeks in 2K1C hypertensive rats, and the results demonstrated that (1) EA treatment effectively reduced arterial blood pressure (BP) and decreased the enhanced sympathetic activities in 2K1C rats, (2) EA treatment significantly improved the myocardial hypertrophy, and (3) EA treatment inhibited the increased OX1R expression and reversed the OX1R-mediated responses in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) of the hypertensive rat. These results suggest that the anti-hypertensive effect of EA treatment was related to the modulation of functional OX1R in the RVLM and inhibition of abnormal sympathetic nerve activities
It has been demonstrated that EA at the LI11 is most effective in its influence on cardiovascular excitatory reflexes induced by gastric distension and gall bladder stimulation (TjenA-Looi et al, 2004)
Summary
Hypertension is the most common risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. Antihypertensive medication serves as a major therapy for treating hypertension. Despite a number of available treatment options, a substantial part of the hypertensive population has uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) due to non-adherence or intolerance to available antihypertensive agents (Oparil and Schmieder, 2015). Developing an effective treatment for this population becomes an important goal for treating hypertension and its comorbidities. Antihypertensive Effect of Acupuncture intervention, acupuncture has been used for centuries in treatment of various disorders, including cardiovascular disease (for review, see Cheng et al, 2015; Longhurst and Tjen-ALooi, 2017). Electroacupuncture (EA) is a more effective way of administering acupuncture, which apply a pulsating electrical current to acupuncture needles for acupoint stimulation. The underlying mechanisms for beneficial antihypertensive responses of EA are unclear
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