Objective: To study the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) of Stomach Meridian acupoints on changes o of the related protein phosphorylation in the gastric mucosa involving the repair of the injured gastric mucosa in the rat.
Methods: A total of 20 SD rats were divided into control, model, acupoint and non-acupoint groups, with 5 cases in each. Gastric mucosa injury model was established by intragastric perfusion of dehydrated alcohol (0.8 ml/100 g). EA (4 Hz/50 Hz, 1-3 mA) was applied to "Zusanli" (ST 36), "Liangmen" (ST 21) and "Sibai" (ST 2), and the corresponding non-acupoints, once daily for 7 days. Gastric mucosal ulcer index (UI) was measured, and the profiling of the protein phosphorylation of interest in gastric mucosa cells was detected by antibody microarrays.
Results: In comparison with control group, the gastric mucosal UI of model group was significantly higher than that of control group (P < 0.01), while the UI of EA group was significant lower than those of model group and non-acupoint group (P < 0.01), suggesting a recovery of the injured mucous membrane. Findings of protein array analysis indicated that a total of 720 kinds of phosphorylated proteins (> or = 1.5 folds) were found in the injured gastric mucosa. Compared to model group, the phosphorylation levels of 100 and 20 proteins were up-regulated, and 16 and 9 proteins down-regulated in acupoint and non-acupoint groups, respectively. The up-regulated proteins involve cell cycle mediation, cell proliferation, anti-apoptosis, and the regulation of the cell adhesion, cytoskeleton protein, inflammation, immune activities, etc. while the down-regulated proteins involve the down-regulation of the phosphorylation levels of the apoptosis proteins, adhesion proteins and cytoskeleton proteins, etc. In comparison to non-acupoint group, the phosphorylation levels of 100 proteins were up-regulated and 16 proteins down-regulated in acupoint group.
Conclusion: EA of acupoints of the Stomach Meridian can promote repair of the injured gastric mucosa, which may be related to its effects in regulating the levels of phosphorylation of many signaling proteins.