Study on the mechanism of electroacupuncture repairing intestinal barrier via regulating mast cell in rats with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on mast cell activation-related substances and intestinal barrier function in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D) model rats, so as to explore its underlying mechanisms. Thirty female SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group and EA group, with 10 rats in each group. IBS-D model was established by chronic unpredictable mild stress combined with senna solution gavage. Rats in the EA group received EA treatment (2 Hz/15 Hz，0.1-1.0 mA) at "Zusanli" (ST36), "Taichong"(LR3) and "Tianshu"(ST25), 20 min per day, for a total of 14 days, with sides alternated daily. Visceral pain threshold was used to evaluate visceral hypersensitivity, diarrhea index was used to evaluate diarrhea degree. After all treatments, the pathological scores of colon were recorded after HE staining, the contents of cholecystokinin (CCK), substance P (SP), tryptase (TPS) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in colon were detected by ELISA, and the expressions of colonic tight junction protein ZO-1 and occludin were detected by Western blot. Compared with the control group, the visceral pain threshold, the expression levels of colonic ZO-1 and occludin proteins decreased (P<0.01), while the diarrhea index, the contents of colonic CCK, SP, TPS and ATP were significantly increased (P<0.01) in the model group. After intervention, in comparison with the model group, the visceral pain thre-shold, the protein expression levels of colonic ZO-1 and occludin protein increased (P<0.01), while the diarrhea index, the contents of colonic CCK, SP, TPS and ATP were significantly decreased (P<0.01) in the EA group. EA can significantly alleviate the symptoms of visceral hypersensitivity and diarrhea in IBS-D rats. Its mechanism may be related to down-regulating colonic CCK, SP, TPS and ATP, inhibiting mast cell activation and degranulation, and up-regulating colonic barrier tight junction proteins.