Effects of Gua Sha therapy on IgG in Serum and Pathological Changes of Disc Tissue of Rats with Lumbar Disc Herniation

OBJECTIVE To explore the mechanism of Gua Sha therapy on the model rats with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). METHODS Fifty male SD rats were divided into 5 groups randomly: blank group， sham operation group， model group， Gua Sha group and drug group (n=10 each group). The rats of blank group did not receive any treatment， of sham operation group with sham operation， of model group， Gua Sha group and drug group were modeled:transplant nucleus pulposus of rat's coccygeal vertebra disc to the left muscle layer near L4~L5 by operation， among which model group were given no intervention; Gua Sha group were given Gua Sha therapy on the 5th day after operation; Drug group were fed with azathioprine through intragastric gavage (3 mg/kg)， followed by drawing blood on the day before operation， the 4th day after operation (the day before treatment)， the 6th day after interventions， the 12th day after interventions and the 18th day after interventions (the end of treatment) and detecting the IgG in serum by ELISA method. After the last blood drawing， all rats were killed. The corresponding coccygeal vertebra disc of the rats in blank group and sham operation group and the transplanted coccygeal vertebra discs in model group， Gua Sha group， and drug group were taken out to observe pathological changes of coccygeal vertebra disc under optical microscope. RESULTS Compared with the model group， serum level of IgG of Gua Sha group and drug group were obviously decreased， with significant difference (P<0.01)， but without statistical significance between the two groups (P>0.05)， suggesting that both Gua Sha therapy and drug could inhibit the autoimmunity reaction caused by modeling， with similar effects on lowering serum level of IgG in model rats. The pathological slice of intervertebral tissue showed that there was no obvious inflammation reaction in sham operation group， and the topical immune-inflammatory reaction of intervertebral peripheral tissue in Gua Sha group and drug group was obviously alleviated. CONCLUSION Gua Sha therapy could inhibit the autoimmunity and immuno-inflammatory reaction caused by transplantation of nucleus pulposus.