【Animal modeling】-Intervention effect of electroacupuncture on NF-κBp65 protein in the spinal dorsal horn of rats with diabetic neuralgia

  Objective To observe the intervention effect of electroacupuncture on the nuclear transcription factor κBp65 protein in the spinal dorsal horn of rats with diabetic neuralgia, so as to explore the partial analgesic mechanism of electroacupuncture in diabetic neuralgia.

  Methods Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into normal group and model group. They were fed with conventional diet and high-fat and high-sugar diet for 5 weeks respectively. After 5 weeks of feeding, rats in model group were given a single intraperitoneal injection. Streptozotocin (STZ) was injected, and the rats with successful diabetic neuralgia model in the modeling group were further randomly divided into a model group (DNPgroup) and a model+electroacupuncture group (DNP+EAgroup). Zusanli and Kunlun points", the frequency was 2Hz, the intensity was 1mA for 15min, and then 2mA for 15min, starting from the seventh week, once a day, 7 times. The changes of blood glucose, mechanical pain threshold and thermal pain threshold of rats in each group were observed, hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the changes of sciatic nerve morphology in rats, and the dorsal horn of spinal cord of rats was detected by immunoblotting. The expression level of NF-κBp65 protein.

  Results After 5 weeks of high-fat and high-glucose feeding, the rats received a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ for 2 weeks, and the blood sugar of the rats increased, and the mechanical pain threshold and thermal pain threshold decreased, indicating that the rat model of DNP was successfully established. Electroacupuncture can up-regulate the mechanical properties of DNP rats. The pain threshold and thermal pain threshold were increased, but there was no obvious intervention effect on blood sugar. The results of HE staining showed that the arrangement of myelinated nerve fibers in the sciatic nerve of DNP rats was disordered, axonal swelling, uneven myelin density, and vacuolar degeneration. There was no obvious effect on the morphology of the rat sciatic nerve. The results of western blotting showed that the expression of NF-κBp65 protein in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord of DNP rats was significantly increased, and electroacupuncture could down-regulate the expression of NF-κBp65 protein in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord of DNP rats.

  Conclusion Low-frequency electroacupuncture has a good analgesic effect in DNP model rats, and its effect may be related to the inhibition of NF-κBp65 protein expression in the spinal dorsal horn of diabetic DNP rats.