Research on the Effect of Electroacupuncture on MDM2 Expression in a Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Rat Model*

Aim: To explore the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the expression of mdm2 following hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). Method: The hypoxic-ischemic models were established by colligating bilateral common carotid artery in new-bore SD rats aged 7 days. All rats were randomly divided into sham-surgery, model, sham-EA, EA, antagonist and EA plus antagonist group which subdivided 1d, 3d, 7d, and 21d time-phases. Ultra-structure of neurons was observed using TEM, real-time PCR was used to determine the level of mdm2 mRNA, and the expression of mdm2 was tested with Western Blot. Results: TEM shown that At 21d, the damnification of neurons had evidently recovery with electroacupuncture treatment. The down-regulation of mdm2 was observed in electroacupuncture group, which was significantly lower than that in model groups (P<0.05). Conclusion: Electroacupuncture could obviously lighten the damage of ultrastructure of neurons to protect the neurons from HIE by inhibiting the expression of mdm2.