RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Dazhui" (GV 14) on Wnt-ß-catenin signal pathway in annulus fibrosus cells in intervertebral disc in rats with cervical spondylosis. METHODS: Forty SD rats were randomized into a control group, a model group, an EA group and a medication group, 10 rats in each one. Rats in the control group were treated with sham operation, only incision on local skin; rats in the remaining groups were made into cervical spondylosis models. After model establishment, rats in the control group and model group received fixed treatment under identical condition; rats in the EA group were treated with EA at "Dazhui" (GV 14), 30 min per treatment; rats in the medication group were treated with intragastric administration of meloxicam tablets. Treatments were both given once a day, and 14 days were taken as one session; there was an interval of 2 days between two sessions, and totally two sessions were given. After the treatments, immunohistochemistry was applied to measure the expression of Wnt, glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and Axin in annulus fibrosus cells; western blot was used to test the expression of P-ß-catenin. RESULTS: In the control group, there were more positive cells of Wnt, GSK-3ß and Axin, which were intensively distributed, deeply colored, and strongly positive; In the model group, there were less positive cells of Wnt, GSK-3ß and Axin, which were sparsely distributed and weakly positive. The expression of Wnt, GSK-3ß, Axin and P-ß-catenin in the model group was less than that in the control group (all P < 0.05); expression of Wnt, GSK-3ß, Axin and P-ß-catenin in the EA group and medication group was higher than that in the model group (all P < 0.05); expression of Wnt, GSK-3ß, Axin and P-ß-catenin was not significantly different between EA group and medication group (all P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: EA could delay the degeneration of intervertebral disc, which may be related to EA inhibiting signal pathway of Wnt-ß-catenin.