Effect of electroacupuncture on microglia phenotype in injured abducens nerve

AIM: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture treatment on microglia phenotype in Beagle dogs with abducens nerve injury. METHODS: Healthy adult Beagle dogs were randomly divided into 4 groups:normal control group, sham operation group, injury group and electroacupuncture treatment group, with 5 dogs in each group. In sham operation group, only the isolated nerves were exposed. In injury group, the dogs were restrained when electroacupuncture was performed in electroacupuncture treatment group. In electroacupuncture treatment group, electroacupuncture was performed on the base of dog nerve injury. The experiment was continued for 2 weeks. Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of M1 and M2 markers in the microglia. RESULTS: The expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in injury group was significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.05). In electroacupuncture treatment group, the expression of iNOS was significantly lower than that in injury group (P<0.05). The expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in injury group and electroacupuncture treatment group was higher than that in control group and that in electroacupuncture treatment group was significantly lower than that in injury group (P<0.05). The expression of arginase in injury group and electroacupuncture treatment group was higher than that in control group (P<0.05), and that in electroacupuncture treatment group was higher than that in injury group (P<0.05). Meanwhile, the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in injury group and electroacupuncture treatment group was increased compared with control group (P<0.05). But the expression of BDNF in electroacupuncture treatment group was higher than that in injury group (P<0.05).CONCLUSION: After abducens nerve injury, electroacupuncture treatment reduces the expression levels of M1 marker proteins in microglia and increases the expression levels of M2 marker proteins.