Chinese tuina downregulates the elevated levels of tissue plasminogen activator in sciatic nerve injured Sprague-Dawley rats / 中国结合医学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To elucidate the mechanism of Chinese tuina in treating sciatic nerve crush injury, and to detect the levels of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), which is thought to play an important role in nerve regeneration.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty-two adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to sciatic nerve crush injury and 16 rats (sham-operated group) went through a sham operation. Control group was given no treatment while tuina group received tuina therapy since day 7 post-surgery. Tuina treatment was performed once a day and lasted for 20 days. The sciatic functional index was examined every 5 days during the treatment session. The rats' gastrocnemius muscles were evaluated for changes in mass and immunohistochemistry techniques were performed to detect the levels of tPA and PAI-1.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Tuina therapy improved the motor function of sciatic nerve injured rats (P<0.05), however, it did not increase muscle volume (P<0.05). Tuina downregulated the levels of tPA and PAI-1 (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The present study implies that tuina treatment could accelerate rehabilitation of peripheral nerve injury.</p>