Effects of electroacupuncture at "Fenglong" (ST 40) on NO, ET and CGRP levels in the rat with hyperlipidemia
Zhou, L.; Wan, W.-j.; Liu, L.-g.; Li, X.; Zhang, H.-x.; Zhang, T.-f.
Zhongguo Zhen Jiu 28(1): 57-60
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 0255-2930 PMID: 18257192 Document Number: 617022
To probe the regulative effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Fenglong" (ST 40) on blood lipids in hyperlipidemia (HLP) rats and the mechanism. Eighty Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal group (fed with basal forage), a model group (fed with high fat forage), an EA group (fed with high fat forage + EA treatment), a western medicine group (fed with high fat forage + Pravastatin sodium). Contents of serum total cholesterol (TC), triacylglycerol (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), endothelin (ET), nitric oxide (NO) and calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) were determined before and after treatment. Compared with the normal group, the body weight, levels of TC, TG, LDL-C and ET were significantly elevated (P < 0.05, P < 0.01) and the levels of HDL-C, NO and CGRP were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in the model group; compared with the model group, the body weight, levels of TC, TG and LDL-C were significantly decreased (P < 0.01) and the levels of NO and CGRP were significantly increased in the western medicine group and the EA group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05); compared with the EA group, HDL-C level significantly increased in the western medicine group (P < 0.01), and ET level decreased in the EA group and the western medicine group with no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Both EA and Pravastatin sodium have better benign regulative effects on TC, TG, LDL-C, NO and CGRP and can decrease ET level to a certain extent in the rat of hyperlipidemia.