1. Acupuncture Reduces Apoptosis of Granulosa Cells in Rats with Premature Ovarian Failure Via Restoring the PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway
- Author
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Yi-min Zhang, Cheng-Lu Li, Ji-Huan Lin, Lu-xi Cao, Ming-Min Zhu, Shu-Jun Lin, Shiqi Wang, Liu Pu, and Shu-Lian Chen
- Subjects
endocrine system diseases ,medicine.drug_class ,Acupuncture Therapy ,Apoptosis ,premature ovarian failure ,Primary Ovarian Insufficiency ,030226 pharmacology & pharmacy ,Catalysis ,Article ,030218 nuclear medicine & medical imaging ,Inorganic Chemistry ,Andrology ,Rats, Sprague-Dawley ,03 medical and health sciences ,Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ,0302 clinical medicine ,medicine ,Animals ,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ,Molecular Biology ,Protein kinase B ,Spectroscopy ,PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway ,Estrous cycle ,PI3K/Akt ,Granulosa Cells ,Akt/PKB signaling pathway ,business.industry ,Organic Chemistry ,General Medicine ,medicine.disease ,female genital diseases and pregnancy complications ,Computer Science Applications ,Premature ovarian failure ,Rats ,Estrogen ,Female ,business ,Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ,acupuncture ,Hormone ,Signal Transduction - Abstract
Acupuncture is widely recognized as an effective therapy for premature ovarian failure (POF) in clinical, but information about its potential mechanisms is rarely explored. To investigate the mechanism, fifty SD female rats were randomly divided into normal group, POF group, POF+estradiol-valerate group (abbreviated as estradiol group), and POF+acupuncture group (abbreviated as acupuncture group). The estrous cycle of the rats was tracked by vaginal smears. Their ovaries morphology was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The apoptotic level of granulosa cells was detected by in situ TUNEL fluorescence staining assay. Serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and estrogen (E2) levels were measured by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent-assay (ELISA). Protein and gene expression of PI3K, Akt, bcl-2, and bax were detected by Western blotting and qPCR. In the acupuncture and estradiol groups, compared with the POF group as controls, the apoptosis number of granulosa cells was significantly decreased (p <, 0.05). FSH levels were decreased, while E2 levels were increased (p >, 0.05). The gene and protein expression levels of PI3K, Akt, and bcl-2 were increased, while the expression levels of bax were decreased (p <, 0.05), and the protein expression level of p-Akt increased. There was no significant difference between the acupuncture group and the estradiol group (p >, 0.05). Acupuncture was able to regulate hormone levels in POF rats, up-regulate PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, and reduce the apoptosis of granulosa cells. This may be one of the mechanisms of acupuncture treating premature ovarian failure.
- Published
- 2019