The Effects Of Scalp-acupuncture on Bax,Fas,and Caspase-3 in Brain of Rats with Acute Cerebral Ischemia Reperfusion Injury

Objective: To explore the protective effects of scalp-acupuncture(SA) on brain neuron injury following cerebral ischemia/reperfusion in rats and the possible mechanisms of SA in treating brain ischemia.Methods:Ninety healthy SD female rats were randomly divided into sham-operated group(n=10),model group(n=40),and SA treatment group(n=40).Rat models of middle cerebral artery(MCA) ischem-reperfusion were prepared by middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO) in model and SA treatment group.The changes of neurofunctional defect,and the expression of Bax,Fas and caspase-3 were observed at 6th,24th,48th,and 72nd h after treatments.Results:(1) The NSS scores in model and SA treatment groups were significantly higher than in sham-operated group(P0.01) at each time point.At 72nd h,the NSS scores in SA group were markedly lower than in model group(P0.01).(2) At 6th,24th,48th,and 72nd h after modeling,the expression of Bax protein was detectable in both SA and model groups,and reached the peak at 24th h.With time over,the expression level of Bax protein in model group was reduced slowly as compared with SA group.(3) The expression of caspase-3 and Fas mRNA was detected in the margin of the infarction area,and the expression levels of caspase-3 and Fas mRNA in SA group were significantly higher than in model group.Conclusion:Cerebral ischemia induced the enhanced expression of Bax,caspase-3,and Fas mRNA.Bax,caspase-3,and Fas play important roles in mediating neurons apoptosis and ischemic brain injury.SA can protect the brain from ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.