Effects of Acupuncture on the Skeletal Muscle Mitochondria Structure and Function of Exercise-induced Fatigue Rats

Objective: To observe the effects and mechanism of acupuncture on the structure of rat skeletal muscle with exercise-induced fatigue.Method: Thirty SD rats were divided into acupuncture group,control group and model group.Acupuncture group were treated Zusanli and Yanglingquan,Neiguan,Shenshu points once a day,retained the needle for 20 minutes.One hour later,the rats in the model group and acupuncture group received medium-intensity treadmill running to induce exercise-induced fatigue.The training lasts for 14 days.The muscle fibers,mitochondria and nucleus of damage were observed under the electron microscope,and MDA content,SOD activity,mitochondria membrane potential and calcium ion content of rat skeletal muscle were measured.Result: Compared with the model group,acupuncture could reduce the damage of the skeletal muscle and its mitochondria and nucleus,and could decrease MDA of skeletal muscle cells,activate SOD activity,and help solve the problems of steady imbalance of Ca2+ and reduction of mitochondria membrane potential in skeletal muscle cells.Conclusion: Acupuncture group could gain effects of anti-fatigue by alleviating damage of the skeletal muscle and improved exercise ability.