RESUMEN
Context: Slow transit constipation (STC) has a high incidence worldwide, which not only seriously affects patients' normal lives but also may cause malignant intestinal lesions. Among the limited treatment options for STC, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is considered to be the key to STC treatment in the future. Objective: The study intended to examine the impacts of acupuncture plus acupoint application on MAPK and ERK in STC rats, with the aim of preliminarily exploring the relevant mechanisms for treating STC as well as providing new ideas and means for future clinical treatment. Design: The research team designed a randomized, controlled animal study. Setting: The study was carried out at department of Department of Rehabilitation, Affiliated Hospital of Medical School of Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China. Animals: The animals were 30 six-to-eight-week-old, Sprague Dawley (SD) rats, half male and half female and weighing a mean of 200 ± 20 g. Intervention: The rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups, 10 rats in each group: a negative control group that wasn't induced with STC and received no treatments; a positive control group, the model group (MG), that was induced with STC and received no treatments; and an intervention group that was induced with STC and received the investigated treatments. The intervention group was treated with acupuncture at Tianshu point (ST25) and received acupoint application from Chinese medicine. Outcome Measures: The study measured the alterations in the rats' body weight and feces, as well as the rats' intestinal motility, using intragastric administration of activated carbon. The rats were killed to obtain their intestinal tissues, for measuring expression of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) using Western blotting and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Postintervention, at 28 days after induction of STC, the rats' weights weren't significantly different in the intervention and control groups (P > .05) but were significantly higher than that in the model group (P < .05). The rats' weights in the intervention and control groups gradually increased significantly, while those in the model group gradually decreased significantly (P < .05). The defecation volume and fecal water content (FWS) decreased in the significantly model group but increased significantly in the intervention group (P < .05). The intestinal motility test revealed no significant differences in the propulsion rate between the intervention and control groups (P > .05), but the rate was significantly lower in the model group than that of the intervention group (P < .05). The intestinal fecal residue in the model group was the highest among the three groups, followed in descending order by the intervention group and the control group, with the differences being statistically significant (P < .05). In addition, the MAPK and ERK in the model group significantly increased, and the values were significantly higher in the intervention group than those of the model group (P < .05). Conclusions: Acupuncture plus acupoint application can validly improve the defecation and intestinal motility of STC rats, possibly through inhibiting MAPK and ERK.