Protective effect of electroacupuncture on neurons autophagy in perfusion period of cerebral ischemia

Electroacupuncture (EA) is an important treatment method in Chinese traditional medicine. The main purpose of the investigation was to explore whether EA could improve cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (CI/R) via neurons' autophagy. 4-vessel occlusion (4-VO) was applied to establish cerebral ischemia model and reperfusion 12 h, 24 h and 48 h respectively were conduct 3 h later. TTC staining was applied to assess cerebral infarction area and the concentrations of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β, SOD and MDA were detected by commercial kits. The expressions of autophagy-related protein LC3, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and Beclin1 were measured by Western blot. EA treatment was given at “BaiHui”, “MingMen” and “ZuSanLiXue”. The obtained results from TTC showed that the severity of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion was improved with EA treatment. Oxidative and inflammatory damages were also alleviated with EA intervention. Meanwhile, western blot analysis revealed the decreased levels of LC3 and Beclin1 in EA rats, as well as the elevated level of mTOR. Besides, our previous study found that EA can enhance mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme activity, reduce mitochondrial damage and inhibit neuronal apoptosis further. Thus, it is assumed that 4-VO-induced cerebral ischemia/reperfusion might be alleviated by EA through inhibiting neurons' excessive autophagy in reperfusion period.