Effect of electroacupuncture on cell proliferation and differentiation in dentate gyrus of aged rats with focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury

Objective:To study the protective effect of electroacupuncture on stem cell proliferation and differentiation in dentate gyrus (DG) in aged rats with focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury. Methods:We duplicated focal cerebral ischemia model with MCAO,with ischemia 3h,I/R1,3,7,14,21d points. The effect of electroacupuncture on the nervous dysfunction score,the water content of cerebral constitution and the stem cell proliferation and differentiation in dentate gyrus were observed,and the non-acupoint group was as control. Results:The nervous dysfunction score (all the time points),the water content of cerebral tissue (I/R1,3,7d),BrdU positive cells (all the time points),BrdU/NeuN positive cells (all the time points),BrdU/GFAP positive cells (I/R7,14,21d),in model group were higher than those of the sham-operated group (P0.01),there was no difference of model group from the nonacupoint group. The nervous dysfunction score,the water content of cerebral tissue (I/R3,7,14d),BrdU/NeuN positive cells(I/R3,7,14d)in electroacupuncture group were lower than those in model group and non-acupoint group respectively (P0.05,P0.01),it was contrary to BrdU/GFAP positive cells(I/R7,14,21d)(P0.05,P0.01). Conclusion:Neural stem cells in DG were activated after cerebral ischemia. Electroacupuncture could protect brain cell from damage after focal cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury by promoting cell proliferation and differentiation in DG in aged rats.