RESUMEN
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) occurs due to genetic mutations that lead to absence or decrease of dystrophin protein generating progressive muscle degeneration. Cell therapy using mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) has been described as a treatment to DMD. In this work, MSC derived from deciduous teeth, called stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED), were injected in acupoint as an alternative therapy to minimize muscle degeneration in twenty-two mdx mice. The treatment occurred three times with intervals of 21 days, and animals were analyzed four times: seven days prior treatment (T-7); 10 days after first treatment (T10); 10 days after second treatment (T31); and 10 days after third treatment (T52). Animals were evaluated by wire test for estimate strength and blood was collected to perform a creatinine phosphokinase analysis. After euthanasia, cranial tibial muscles were collected and submitted to histological and immunohistochemistry analyses. Treated groups presented improvement of strength and reduced creatinine phosphokinase levels. Also, a slight dystrophin increase was observed in tibial cranial muscle when aquapuncture was associated SHED. All therapies have minimized muscle degeneration, but the association of aquapuncture with SHED appears to have better effect, reducing muscle damage, suggesting a therapeutic value.
RESUMEN
A acupuntura, é uma terapia que cada vez mais adquire uma credibilidade no mundo ocidental, a sua indicação pode ser para pacientes anêmicos e imunossuprimidos, e outras afecções. O experimento foi realizado com oito cães adultos, sendo 4 fêmeas e 4 machos. O estudo consistiu em análise das concentrações das células vermelhas e brancas avaliado em 4 tratamentos: controle (T0), acupuntura (T1), eletroacupuntura unilateral (T2) e eletroacupuntura bilateral (T3). Os acupontos utilizados foram intestino grosso 4, intestino grosso 11 e estômago 36. Todos os animais passaram por todos os tratamentos com um intervalo de 7 dias para cada tratamento. Os hemogramas séricos foram verificados 20 minutos antes do início do tratamento (M0), logo após o tratamento (M1), e 60 minutos (M2) e 120 minutos (M3) após o tratamento. O resultado da série vermelha não foi significativo, mas notou-se somente uma diminuição significativa da concentração média corpuscular (CHCM) (p<0,05) no tratamento T1 no M1 em comparação aos outros tratamentos; notou-se também uma redução significativa (p<0,05) na concentração plaquetária de T1, T2 e T3 em comparação ao grupo controle. A eletroacupuntura pode levar a uma trombocitopenia, quando estimulado estes pontos, provavelmente por um estímulo parassimpaticomimético.
Acupuncture is an alternative therapy which increasingly acquires credibility in the Western Hemisphere and it is indicated for anemic and immunosuppressed patients, as well as for other diseases. The experiment was performed with 8 adult dogs, 4 females and 4 males. The study consisted to analyze the concentrations of white and red cells evaluated at four treatments: controls (T0), acupuncture (T1), unilateral electroacupuncture (T2), and bilateral electroacupuncture (T3). The acupoints utilized were: 4 large intestine, 11 small intestine and 36 stomachs. All animals experienced all treatments with an interval of 7 days to each treatment. The serum hemograms were verified 20 minutes prior to initiation to treatment (M0), at the end of the treatment (M1), 60 minutes after treatment (M2) and 120 minutes post-treatment (M3). The results revealed that the red series was not significant, but there was only a significant decrease in medium corpuscular concentration (p<0.05) at T1 of M1 as compared to the other treatments; also there was a significant reduction (p<0.05) in the platelet concentration at T1, T2 and T3 as compared to controls. The electro-acupuncture may lead to thrombocytopenia, when stimulating these points, probably by a parasympathetic stimulus.
