Electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) acupoint upregulates mRNA expression of NeuroD molecules in the brains of newborn rats suffering in utero fetal distress

摘要

Neuro D plays a key regulatory effect on differentiation of neural stem cells into mature neurons in the brain.Thus,we assumed that electroacupuncture at Baihui(DU20) acupoint in newborn rats exposed to in utero fetal distress would influence expression of Neuro D.Electroacupuncture at Baihui was performed for 20 minutes on 3-day-old(Day 3) newborn Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to in utero fetal distress;electroacupuncture parameters consisted of sparse and dense waves at a frequency of 2–10 Hz.Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR results demonstrated that m RNA expression of Neuro D,a molecule that indicates Neuro D,increased with prolonged time in brains of newborn rats,and peaked on Day 22.The level of m RNA expression was similar between Day 16 and Day 35.These findings suggest that electro acupuncture at Baihui acupoint could effectively increase m RNA expression of molecules involved in Neuro D in the brains of newborn rats exposed to in utero fetal distress.