Electroacupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) promotes gastric emptying and mucosal blood flow during oral resuscitation of scalded rats with a pyruvate-enriched ORS

• Our previous studies indicated that oral resuscitation with pyruvate-enriched oral rehydration solution (Pyr-ORS) may be a safe and effective alternative to intravenous resuscitation for burn shock, but it was limited by the decrease of gastric emptying due to gastrointestinal ischemia as a result of severe burns.
• In the present study, we demonstrated that electroacupuncture (EA) ST36 promoted the gastric emptying rate and the gastric mucosal blood flow in rats with 35% total body surface area (TBSA) scald injury without affecting the motilin (MTL) level, but whose effects were blocked by gastric vagotomy.
• The results suggested that EA ST36 promoted gastric emptying possibly through the activation of cholinergic nerves.

AimThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture at ST36 (EA ST36) on gastric emptying and mucosal blood flow during intragastric resuscitation with pyruvate-enriched oral rehydration solution (Pyr-ORS) in scalded rats.MethodsThe rats were subjected to a 35% total body surface area (TBSA) of scald injury and randomly divided into five groups (N = 24) and two subgroups (n = 12) in each group. The Pyr-ORS was delivered intragastrically according to the Parkland formula immediately after scalding at a dose of 1 mL kg−1 %TBSA−1 in 1 h. In these animals, the bilateral Zusanli points (ST36) were electroacupunctured at a constant voltage (2 mA and 2–100 HZ) for 0.5 h immediately after intragastric resuscitation. At 2 and 4 h after scalding, the gastric emptying rate (GER) and gastric mucosal blood flow (GMBF) were determined, and the motilin levels of the plasma and gastric tissues were also analyzed at two time points, respectively.ResultsGER and GMBF were markedly decreased in groups with scalding and resuscitation, compared with the sham groups at two time points (P < 0.05), but they were greatly improved in groups byEAST36 at 2 and 4 h after sustaining scald injuries (P < 0.05). Bilateral vagotomy further aggravated the reduction of GER and GMBF in scalded rats. EA after gastric vagotomy failed to raise GER and GMBF. Neither EA nor vagotomy had effects on the reduced motilin levels of plasma and gastric tissues in animals after scalding.ConclusionEA ST36 has a significant effect on improving gastric emptying and mucosal ischemia in the oral resuscitation of burn injury, possibly through the activation of a cholinergic nerve-dependent mechanism. In addition, EA ST36 showed no effects on motilin levels, but requires further investigations.