[Effect of electroacupuncture on expression of heat shock protein 70 in mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]

Objective: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the body weight, disease progression and the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in lumbar spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mice, so as to explore the mechanism of EA on treating ALS.

Methods: Eighteen ALS transgenic SOD1^G93A mice were randomly divided into model, EA and medication groups, with 6 mice in each group, and six C57BL/6J mice were used as the normal group. Mice in the EA group received EA at "Quchi"(LI11)-"Hegu"(LI4), "Zusanli"(ST36)- "Sanyinjiao"(SP6), 30 min/time, 5 times/week, for 8 weeks.Mice in the medication group were given riluzole solution (7.6 mg·kg^-1·d^-1) by gavage for 8 weeks. The body weight of the mice was recorded and the motor function of the hind limbs was evaluated by the neurological function scoring stan-dard of the ALS Therapeutic Development Institute. The expression of HSP70 in lumbar spinal cord was detected by Western blot and immunohistochemistry, respectively.

Results: Compared with the normal group, the body weight and the expression of HSP70 in the model group decreased significantly (P<0.05), while no significant difference in the body weight was found among other groups(P>0.05). After intervention and in comparison with the model group, the disease onset time and paralysis time of the EA group and the medication group were significantly delayed (P<0.05, P<0.01), the expression of HSP70 in the EA group and the medicine group was significantly increased (P<0.05, P<0.01).But there was no significant difference in the survival time among all groups(P＞0.05). The disease onset time of the EA group was shorter than that in the medication group (P<0.05).

Conclusion: EA can increase the expression of HSP70 in lumbar spinal cord, thereby delaying the progression of ALS.