The effect of acupuncture on pathogenic changes in aortasinus plaque of ApoE-/- mice

OBJECTIVE To observe the change of aorta sinus plaque morphology， the expression of PPARγin atheromatous plaque， the differences of oxidized low density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein B of mice serum among groups after acupuncture intervention in ApoE-/- mice， and to study the mechanism of acupuncture on aorta sinus plaque of ApoE-/- mice. METHODS 34 ApoE-/- male mice at 6 weeks of age were fed with high fat. After 14 weeks， 4 mice were selected randomly and condemned to death to observe morphology change of aorta sinus plaque and to judge whether the atherosclerosis model of construction is succeed. Then the 30 mice were divided randomly into model control group (n=10)， pharmacy control group (n=10) and electro acupuncture group (n=10). Moreover， 4 C57BL/6J male mice were fed ordinary feed as blank control group. Pharmacy group were administered with simvastatin 40mg/kg per day by oral gavage. Acupuncture group were treated by low frequency Electro acupuncture at neiguan， shenmen， housanli and sanyinjiao point. After 11 weeks treatment， blood samples were applied to detect the contents of oxidized low density lipoprotein and apolipoprotein B， besides their arterial aortas were separated and atherosclerosis lesions tissues were observed with HE， the immunohistochemical staining were used to compare the differences of oxidized low density lipoprotein， apolipoprotein B of serum， morphology change of aorta sinus plaque and expression of PPARγin atheromatous plaque among three groups. RESULTS Acupuncture can protect the vascular intima significantly inhibit the development of plaque. The curative effect of acupuncture was better than simvastatin. CONCLUSION Acupuncture can prevent the development of plaque by regulating lipid and energy metabolism preventing oxidation， etc. Acupuncture can play therapeutic effect by reinforcing spleen replenishing qi reducing phlegm and removing blood stasis from TCM perspective.