Effect of Electro-acupuncture on Expression of Noxa and Caspase-3 in Hippocampal CA1 Region of Vascular Dementia Rats

To discuss the effect of electro-acupuncture(EA) on the learning and memory in rats with vascular dementia(VD) and explore its molecular mechanism.The models were established by 2-vessel occlusion(2-VO) method,morris water maze was used for place navigation test and spatial probe test,neuropathlogical changes of hippocampus were observed with HE staining,and the expressions of Noxa and caspase-3 in hippocampal CA1 region were measured by immunofluorescence method.The results showed that the learning and memory ability of EA group were higher than that of the control group,the hippocampal pathological damage and the expressions of Noxa and caspase-3 in hippocampal CA1 region were lower than that of the control group.Conclusion: Electro-acupuncture could boost the learning and memory ability of VD rats,and also improve the apoptosis of hippocampal CA1 region by inhibiting the expressions of Noxa and caspase-3.