Curcumin combined with electroacupuncture promotes the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor after cerebral infarction

Objective To investigate the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) after cerebral infarction and treatment with curcumin combined with electroacupuncture. Methods Middle cerebral artery occlusion was successfully introduced to simulate cerebral infarction in 60 healthy, male Wistar rats. They were then randomly divided into a control group, an electroacupuncture group, a curcumin group and a curcumin combined with electroacupuncture group (the observation group), each of 15. After the modeling, the four groups were given the planned interventions for 2 weeks, with the control group receiving no intervention. All of the rats were sacrificed after neurobehavioral scoring and immunological staining of brain tissue from the infarction area was used to detect the expression of BDNF and NGF. Results The average Bederson score in the observation group was significantly lower than those of the other groups. Cells expressing BDNF and NGF were significantly more numerous in the observation group than in the other three groups. Conclusion Curcumin combined with electroacupuncture can significantly improve the expression of BDNF and NGF in the infarcted area, and this may play a neuroprotective role. Key words: Cerebral infarction; Electroacupuncture; Curcumin; Nerve growth factor; Brain-derived neurotrophic factor