作者机构：
[张波] School of Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208;[张波; 张健] Key Laboratory of Protein Chemistry and Developmental Biology, Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, China;[周芳亮; 严杰; 卢芳国] School of Medicine, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha 410208, China
摘要：
Objective: To probe into the mechanisms of electroacupuncture (EA) at Shangjuxu (ST 37) for treatment of the ulcerative colitis (UC). Methods: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: a normal group, a model group, a Shangjuxu group and a non-acupoint group, 10 rats in each group. The UC rat model was made with enema of trinitro-benzenesulfonic acid (TNBSA), and the changes of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) contents after EA at Shangjuxu (ST 37) were observed. Results: EA at Shangjuxu (ST 37) could significantly decrease the IL-1 beta content and increase the IL-4 content in the colic tissues of the UC rats with significant differences as compared with the model group and the non-acupoint group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: The mechanisms of EA at Shangjuxu (ST 37) for treatment of the UC rats is possibly related with the decrease of IL-1 beta, a inflammation-promoting cytokine, and the increase of IL-4, a anti-inflammatory cytokine.
通讯机构：
[Yan, Jie] H;Hunan Coll Tradit Chinese Med, Inst Acupuncture & Moxibust, Physiol Lab, Changsha 410007, Peoples R China.
关键词：
NTS;Firing Neuron;Gastric Distention;Meridian and Viscera;Acupuncture
摘要：
The nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is a primary center, not only for receiving visceral afferents, but also for somatic afferents. Previous experiments demonstrated that NTS might be a primary afferent center for connecting the Stomach Meridian (ST Medirian) and the Stomach. In this study, an extracellular recording method was used to analyze the firing neurons. The variety of NTS' neurons' responses to gastric distention (GD) and different body surface points were compared. In 52 rats, 104 firing neurons of NTS were recorded, in which there were 47 GD related neurons. For the 47 GD related neurons, there were 33 neurons responsive to acupuncture at Sibai (ST 2, belonging to ST Meridian). Therefore, in the 47 GD related neurons, the response neuron occurring rate (RNOR) for acupuncture at ST 2 was 70.21%. Meanwhile in the 47 GD related neurons, when acupuncture was performed at Quanliao (SI 18, belonging to Small Intestine Meridian) and non-acupoint respectively, there were 18 and 17 firing neurons, and the RNOR were 38.30% and 36.17% respectively. The experiment demonstrated that there were some varieties in the response of NTS neurons to GD stimuli and acupuncture at different body surface points, which suggested that the ST Meridian was more intimately linked to the Stomach and that the different acupoints do have some specificity.
