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Influence of Acupuncture on Microcirculation Perfusion of Pericardium Meridian and Heart in Acute Myocardial Ischemia Model Rats

  • Acupuncture Research
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Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To observe the influence of acupuncture on microcirculation perfusion of the pericardium meridian and heart in acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) rats and evaluate whether acupuncture can simultaneously affect the meridians and corresponding viscera. Additionally, acupoints at different meridians were compared and whether they exert the same effects was discussed.

Methods

Totally 32 Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to left anterior descending (LAD) ligation to develop an AMI model. Rats were divided into 4 groups, including AMI, acupuncture Neiguan (PC 6), Lieque (LU 7) and Qiansanli (LI 10) groups (n=8). Eight rats received only thoracotomy (sham-operated group). The rats in the acupuncture groups received manual acupuncture at PC 6, LU 7 and LI 10 acupoints for 15 min, respectively. The microcirculation perfusion of pericardium meridian and heart was monitored by laser speckle perfusion imager (LSPI) before, during and after acupuncture manipulation for 15 min. Subsequently, the perfusion unit (PU) was calculated and analyzed by PSI System.

Results

After LAD, compared to pre-acupuncture stage, the heart microcirculation perfusion (HMP) in the AMI group decreased continuously at during-acupuncture (P>0.05) and post-acupuncture stages (P<0.05), and the pericardium meridian microcirculation perfusion (PMP) showed no significant differences at 3 stages (P>0.05). Compared to pre-acupuncture stage, the PMP and HMP in PC 6 group significantly increased during acupuncture manipulation (both P<0.05), and PMP decreased obviously after acupuncture (P<0.05). The PMP in the LU 7 and LI 10 groups were slightly elevated (both P>0.05); however, they were significantly reduced after acupuncture manipulation (both P<0.05). Additionally, HMP of LI 10 group was decreased significantly during acupuncture, especially compared to pre-acupuncture stage (P<0.05).

Conclusions

Acupuncture at PC 6 obviously increased the PMP and HMP in AMI rats, and the effects were superior to at LU 7 and LI 10 acupoints. It was further confirmed that acupuncture promoted qi and blood circulation, indicating that acupoint specificity exists and features a meridian-propagated effect.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Tuina, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610075, China

    Yi Zhuang, Jie Zhou, Yu-mei Zhou, Jiao Chen, ** Wu, Pei-ran Lyu, Min Wan, Liao-jun Luo, Ding-jun Cai & Fan-rong Liang

  2. College of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Tuina, Nan**g University of Chinese Medicine, Nan**g, 210023, China

    Yi Zhuang

  3. Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, **n Du Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 610599, China

    Jie Zhou

  4. The Fourth Clinical Medical College of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, 518005, China

    Yu-mei Zhou

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  1. Yi Zhuang
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  2. Jie Zhou
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Contributions

Liang FR, Cai DJ and Zhuang Y conceptualized and designed the research. Zhou J and Zhuang Y carried out all the experiment. Zhuang Y drafted the manuscript. Zhou YM and Luo LJ analyzed and interpreted the data. Zhou YM, Chen J, Lyu PR, Wan M and Wu P revised the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript for publication.

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Conflict of Interest

All authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Supported by the Project Acupoint Sensitization Research of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81590951), National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2012CB518501), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81373559)

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Zhuang, Y., Zhou, J., Zhou, Ym. et al. Influence of Acupuncture on Microcirculation Perfusion of Pericardium Meridian and Heart in Acute Myocardial Ischemia Model Rats. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 69–75 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3294-9

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