Electroacupuncture of Zusanli acupuncture point protects against hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

Objective To study the protective effects of electroacupuncture of Zusanli acupuncture on rat hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury and the possible mechanism.Methods Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into 4 groups(each group n=10):sham(A),ischemia/reperfusion(B),ischemia/reperfusion + non-electroacupunture(C),and ischemia/reperfusion + electroacupuncture of Zusanli acupuncture point(D).Animals in C and D groups received electroacupuncture of Zusanli acupuncture point(4 mA,2/100 Hz) before ischemia for 45 min.Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury(70%) was induced by blocking blood inflow of the left transverse lobe and middle lobe for 90 min,then reperfusion was allowed for 8 h;blood samples were obtained from the inferior vena cava for determination of serum ALT.Meanwhile,real-time PCR was used to examine the heptaic expression of TNF-α and IL-10.Results B,C,and D groups demonstrated significantly higher levels of serum ALT and hepatic TNF-α and IL-10 compared with A group(P0.05),and the increase of ALT and TNF-α in D group was significantly lower than those in B and C group(P0.05).Expression of IL-10 was not significantly different between the 3 groups(P0.05).Conclusion Electroacupuncture of Zusanli acupuncture point can effectively protect against hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury,which is possibly related to the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.