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Electro-acupuncture Reduces Neuronal Apoptosis Linked to Bax and Bcl-2 Expression in the Spinal Cords of Cats Subjected to Partial Dorsal Root Ganglionectomy

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Abstract

While electro-acupuncture (EA) has been well known to contribute towards neuroplasticity occurring in both the central and the peripheral nervous system after injury, the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. This study evaluated the effects and the possible mechanism of EA on neuronal apoptosis in the spinal cords of cats subjected to the removal of L1–L5 and L7–S2 dorsal root ganglion, sparing the L6 dorsal root ganglion. EA treatment decreased the number of TUNEL-positive apoptotic cells in lamina II of the L3 and L6 cord segments at 7 and 14 days post operation (dpo). This EA-mediated neuroprotection is associated with a decrease in the number of Bax immunoreactive neurons and an increase in the number of Bcl-2 immunoreactive neurons. Furthermore, Western blot and RT-PCR analysis revealed a significant downregulation of Bax protein and its mRNA, but an upregulation of Bcl-2 in the dorsal horn of L3 and L6 cords at both 7 and 14 dpo. The present findings suggest that EA could inhibit neuronal apoptosis in dorsal root deafferentated cat spinal cords, possibly by Bax downregulation and Bcl-2 upregulation.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. Kevin J. Foehrkolb and associate Professor Jiang-Fan Chen in Harvard Medical School for their very useful comments on the manuscript. A grant from the National Science Foundation (No. 30260125) and the New York-China Medical Grant (CMB00-722) supported this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Neurological Disease, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Wei Zhao, Jia Liu, Xin-Yun Xu, Xue Zhou, Su Liu & Ting-Hua Wang

  2. Institute of Neuroscience, Kunming Medical College, Kunming, 650031, China

    Wei Zhao, Qi Zhao, Wei-Wei Sun, Su Liu & Ting-Hua Wang

  3. Department of Neurobiology, College of Preclinical Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, China

    Ting-Hua Wang

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  1. Wei Zhao
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  2. Qi Zhao
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  3. Jia Liu
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  7. Su Liu
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Correspondence to Ting-Hua Wang.

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Wei Zhao and Qi Zhao contributed equally to this work.

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Zhao, W., Zhao, Q., Liu, J. et al. Electro-acupuncture Reduces Neuronal Apoptosis Linked to Bax and Bcl-2 Expression in the Spinal Cords of Cats Subjected to Partial Dorsal Root Ganglionectomy. Neurochem Res 33, 2214–2221 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9677-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-008-9677-x

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