The influence of electro-acupuncture on neural plasticity in acute cerebral infarction

Objective: To observe the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) on dendritic spine and ephrin-A5 and to investigate the action of EA on neural plasticity after acute cerebral ischemic infarction. Methods: Focal acute cerebral ischemia model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with electrocoagulation contralateral method. Ninety male Sprague -Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham operation (SO) group, MCAO group and EA treatment (ET) group. Golgi dying, double immunofluorescence method and RT-PCR were used to detect dendritic spine density, expression patterns of ephrin-A5 and the effect of EA on them at the end of the first, second and fourth week after ischemia. Results: The dendritic spine density in MCAO group significantly decreased after ischemia (p < 0.01). The dendritic spine density was raised in ET group in the corresponding time period (p < 0.01) and among the ET groups. It was higher at the end of the fourth week than before (p < 0.05). The signal of ephrin-A5 was detected mainly in neuron cytoplasm, and the mRNA expression in MCAO group and ET group increased compared to that in SO group (p, 0.01). The mRNA expression in ET group at the first week was much higher than that in MCAO group (p < 0.01). In ET groups, the mRNA expression of ephrin-A5 was down-regulated along with the time going (p < 0.01). Conclusion: It is possibly the regulation of the ephrin-A5 expression by which EA treatment improves the neural plasticity at the peri-infarct cerebral cortex in acute cerebral ischemia rat. There may be a time window in EA treatment for acute cerebral ischemia. [Neurol Res 2008; 30: 985-989]