[Electroacupuncture alleviates cerebral ischemia injury in rats by regulating melatonin-NLRP3 and inhibiting pyroptosis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of electroacupuncture in alleviating cerebral ischemia injury in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rats by regulating melatonin - NOD-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3) mediated pyroptosis. METHODS: A total of 48 SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group, model group, electroacupuncture (EA) group and EA +Luz group, with 12 rats in each group. The focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury model was established by middle cerebral artery embolization. Rats of the EA group was treated with EA stimulation (4 Hz/20 Hz, 0.5 mA,20 min) at "Baihui" (GV20) and "Shenting" (GV24) once a day for 7 consecutive days; rats of EA+Luz group were given the same EA treatment and intraperitoneally administered melatonin receptor antagonist (luzindole, 30 mg/kg), once a day for 7 consecutive days. The neurological impairment was evaluated by Zea Longa score. The level of serum melatonin content at 12:00 and 24:00 was detected by ELISA. The percentage of cerebral infarction volume was evaluated by MRI of small animals. The apoptosis rate of nerve cells in cerebral cortex of infarct side was detected by TUNEL staining. The activation of microglia cells was detected by immunofluorescence staining. The expression levels of pyroptosis-related proteins NLRP3, Caspase-1 and interleukin (IL) -1β were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: <0.05) in the EA group. CONCLUSION: EA at GV20 and GV24 can reduce the neurolo-gical injury in cerebral ischemia reperfusion model rats, which may be related to regulating the expression of endogenous melatonin, inhibiting cell scorchification and reducing cerebral ischemia injury.