Objective： To investigate the clinical significance of treating post-apoplectic limb spasm by puncturing the acupoints of Governor Vessel as a main therapy. Methods： Twenty- nine patients with post-apoplectic limb s...Objective： To investigate the clinical significance of treating post-apoplectic limb spasm by puncturing the acupoints of Governor Vessel as a main therapy. Methods： Twenty- nine patients with post-apoplectic limb spasm were treated by puncturing the acupoints of Governor Vessel plus the acupoints adjacent to joints, together with another 29 patients treated by conventional acupoints for comparison of the curative effects. Results： Before treatment, there was no significant difference in Ashoworth limb tension score and Fugl-Meyer motor function score between the two groups of patients （P〉0.05）. After treatment, there was significant difference in tension score between the two groups （P〈0.05）. Motor function score significantly increased as compared with that before the treatment in both groups （P〈0.01）, but limb motor function improved more obviously in the treatment group than in the control group （P〈0.05）. Conclusion： To puncture the acupoints of Governor Vessel as a main therapy can significantly improve the curative effect in the treatment of post-apoplectic limb spasm than conventional acupuncture method.展开更多
Electroacupuncture at Dazhui（GV14） and Mingmen（GV4） on the Governor Vessel has been shown to exhibit curative effects on spinal cord injury; however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this stu...Electroacupuncture at Dazhui（GV14） and Mingmen（GV4） on the Governor Vessel has been shown to exhibit curative effects on spinal cord injury; however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we established rat models of spinal cord injury using a modified Allen＇s weight-drop method. Ninety-nine male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three equal groups： sham（only laminectomy）, SCI（induction of spinal cord injury at T10）, and EA（induction of spinal cord injury at T10 and electroacupuncture intervention at GV14 and GV4 for 20 minutes once a day）. Rats in the SCI and EA groups were further randomly divided into the following subgroups： 1-day（n = 11）, 7-day（n = 11）, and 14-day（n = 11）. At 1, 7, and 14 days after electroacupuncture treatment, the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan locomotor rating scale showed obvious improvement in rat hind limb locomotor function, hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that the histological change of injured spinal cord tissue was obviously alleviated, and immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis showed that Wnt1, Wnt3 a, β-catenin immunoreactivity and protein expression in the injured spinal cord tissue were greatly increased compared with the sham and SCI groups. These findings suggest that electroacupuncture at GV14 and GV4 upregulates Wnt1, Wnt3 a, and β-catenin expression in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, exhibiting neuroprotective effects against spinal cord injury.展开更多
Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation is a novel means of treating cerebral ischemia/reper- fusion, and can promote angiogenesis and neurological functional recovery. Acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels als...Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation is a novel means of treating cerebral ischemia/reper- fusion, and can promote angiogenesis and neurological functional recovery. Acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels also has positive effects as a treatment for cerebral ischemia/ reperfusion. Therefore, we hypothesized that electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels plus mesenchymal stem cell transplantation may have better therapeutic effects on the promotion of angiogenesis and recovery of neurological function than either treatment alone. In the present study, human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were isolated, cultured, identified and intracranially transplanted into the striatum and subcortex of rats at 24 hours following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Subsequently, rats were electro-acupunctured at Conception and Governor vessels at 24 hours after transplantation. Modified neurological severity scores and immunohistochemistry findings revealed that the combined interventions of electro-acupuncture and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation clearly improved neurological impairment and up-regulated vascular endothelial growth factor expression around the isch- emic focus. The combined intervention provided a better outcome than mesenchymal stem cell transplantation alone. These findings demonstrate that electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation have synergetic effects on promot- ing neurological function recovery and angiogenesis in rats after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.展开更多
文摘Objective： To investigate the clinical significance of treating post-apoplectic limb spasm by puncturing the acupoints of Governor Vessel as a main therapy. Methods： Twenty- nine patients with post-apoplectic limb spasm were treated by puncturing the acupoints of Governor Vessel plus the acupoints adjacent to joints, together with another 29 patients treated by conventional acupoints for comparison of the curative effects. Results： Before treatment, there was no significant difference in Ashoworth limb tension score and Fugl-Meyer motor function score between the two groups of patients （P〉0.05）. After treatment, there was significant difference in tension score between the two groups （P〈0.05）. Motor function score significantly increased as compared with that before the treatment in both groups （P〈0.01）, but limb motor function improved more obviously in the treatment group than in the control group （P〈0.05）. Conclusion： To puncture the acupoints of Governor Vessel as a main therapy can significantly improve the curative effect in the treatment of post-apoplectic limb spasm than conventional acupuncture method.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81373728
文摘Electroacupuncture at Dazhui（GV14） and Mingmen（GV4） on the Governor Vessel has been shown to exhibit curative effects on spinal cord injury; however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. In this study, we established rat models of spinal cord injury using a modified Allen＇s weight-drop method. Ninety-nine male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three equal groups： sham（only laminectomy）, SCI（induction of spinal cord injury at T10）, and EA（induction of spinal cord injury at T10 and electroacupuncture intervention at GV14 and GV4 for 20 minutes once a day）. Rats in the SCI and EA groups were further randomly divided into the following subgroups： 1-day（n = 11）, 7-day（n = 11）, and 14-day（n = 11）. At 1, 7, and 14 days after electroacupuncture treatment, the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan locomotor rating scale showed obvious improvement in rat hind limb locomotor function, hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that the histological change of injured spinal cord tissue was obviously alleviated, and immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis showed that Wnt1, Wnt3 a, β-catenin immunoreactivity and protein expression in the injured spinal cord tissue were greatly increased compared with the sham and SCI groups. These findings suggest that electroacupuncture at GV14 and GV4 upregulates Wnt1, Wnt3 a, and β-catenin expression in the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, exhibiting neuroprotective effects against spinal cord injury.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.81072877Key Laboratory Project of Condition and Platform Construction Plan of Shenzhen Scientific Research Fund,No.CXB201111250113AShenzhen Scientific and Technology Development Program,No.201203149
文摘Mesenchymal stem cell transplantation is a novel means of treating cerebral ischemia/reper- fusion, and can promote angiogenesis and neurological functional recovery. Acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels also has positive effects as a treatment for cerebral ischemia/ reperfusion. Therefore, we hypothesized that electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels plus mesenchymal stem cell transplantation may have better therapeutic effects on the promotion of angiogenesis and recovery of neurological function than either treatment alone. In the present study, human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells were isolated, cultured, identified and intracranially transplanted into the striatum and subcortex of rats at 24 hours following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion. Subsequently, rats were electro-acupunctured at Conception and Governor vessels at 24 hours after transplantation. Modified neurological severity scores and immunohistochemistry findings revealed that the combined interventions of electro-acupuncture and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation clearly improved neurological impairment and up-regulated vascular endothelial growth factor expression around the isch- emic focus. The combined intervention provided a better outcome than mesenchymal stem cell transplantation alone. These findings demonstrate that electro-acupuncture at Conception and Governor vessels and mesenchymal stem cell transplantation have synergetic effects on promot- ing neurological function recovery and angiogenesis in rats after cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.
