[Effect of Electroacupuncture at "Neiguan" (PC 6) on Skin Microcirculation Blood Perfusion Volume of Heart-related Acupoints and Heart-irrelevant Acupoints in Myocardial Ischemia Rats].

OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of low-frequency or high-frequency electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of Neiguan (PC 6) on changes of skin blood perfusion volume of heart-related and heart-irrelevant acupoints in rats with normal or ischemic myocardium. METHODS Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control, sham-operation, model, low-frequency EA and high-frequency EA groups (n=8 in each group). The myocardial ischemic (MI) model was established by occlusion of the anterior descending branch of the left coronary artery. 2 Hz and 100 Hz EA was respectively applied to left PC 6 for 20 min, once daily, a total of three times. Electrocardiogram (ECG) was recorded after the last treatment. Serum cardiac troponin T (cTnT) contents were assayed by ELISA. The skin blood perfusion volumes of bilateral PC 6, Zusanli (ST 36) and Yanglingquan (GB 34) were observed by laser speckle contrast imaging. RESULTS In comparison with the control and sham-operation groups, the differences of J point and contents of serum cTnT were significantly increased in the model group (P<0.01). After EA, the differences of J point and contents of serum cTnT were significantly decreased in both low-frequency and high-frequency EA groups (P<0.01, P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the skin blood perfusion volumes of bilateral PC 6 and ST 36 decreased obviously in rats of the model group (P<0.01). After EA, the skin blood perfusion volumes were markedly up-regulated in the areas of PC 6 and ST 36 (P<0.01). There were no significant changes in that of GB 34 among the 5 groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Skin blood perfusion volumes around PC 6 and ST 36 can specifically reflect the change of the myocardial state.