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Neuroprotection of Up-Regulated Carbon Monoxide by Electrical Acupuncture on Perinatal Hypoxic–Ischemic Brain Damage in Rats

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Abstract

This study investigated the neuroprotection and potential mechanism of carbon monoxide (CO) against perinatal hypoxic–ischemic brain damage in rats by electrical acupuncture (EA). Animal behavior, morphological changes, cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression levels, and CO content in rat cortex cells were determined. Results demonstrated that EA treatment decreased the slope behavior and increased the overhang behavior of perinatal rats. The treatment also decreased the number of positive cells. The activator and inhibitor of CBS aggravated and remitted the hypoxic damage in cortex cells, respectively. EA treatment decreased CBS expression level and increased HO-1 and HIF-1α expression levels in perinatal rat cortex cells. Compared with the control groups, the CO content of cortex cells in the EA treatment group significantly increased (**p < 0.01). We hypothesized that EA treatment increases cortical CO content to protect against hypoxic damage via the hydrogen sulfide/CBS–CO/HO-1–HIF-1α system. This study provided a significant reference for EA therapy and cued a novel protective mechanism for cerebral palsy.

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Acknowledgments

This research projects is sponsored by Supported by: International Science and Technology Cooperation Fundation of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, (No.2008DFA31850), International Cooperation of Science and Technique Foundation of Beijing (2007G05) and the Beijing Chinese medicine projects (Grant no. JJ2005-17).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, General Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Beijing, 100853, China

    Yichen Liu, Xiuyu Shi, Ying Liu, Xiaofan Yang & Liping Zou

  2. Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center of PLA, Beijing, 100850, China

    Zhihui Li, Weiguang Li, Hualing Li & Chenggang Zhang

  3. Department of Pediatrics, 159th Hospital of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, Zhumadian, 463000, Henan Province, China

    Yichen Liu & Guofang Duan

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  1. Yichen Liu
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  2. Zhihui Li
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  3. Xiuyu Shi
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  4. Ying Liu
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  5. Weiguang Li
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  7. Hualing Li
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  8. Xiaofan Yang
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  9. Chenggang Zhang
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  10. Liping Zou
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Correspondence to Chenggang Zhang or Liping Zou.

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Yichen Liu is the first author.

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Liu, Y., Li, Z., Shi, X. et al. Neuroprotection of Up-Regulated Carbon Monoxide by Electrical Acupuncture on Perinatal Hypoxic–Ischemic Brain Damage in Rats. Neurochem Res 39, 1724–1732 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-014-1366-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-014-1366-3

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