Figure 5

The ability of electroacupuncture to protect the myocardium after ischemia-reperfusion depends on the vagal nerve, but not the sympathetic nerve.

Mice were treated as described in Fig. 4, except that animals were sacrificed only after 24 h of reperfusion. (A) Infarct size in each group was calculated as IA/AAR% and AAR/LV% was determined to show the reproducibility of the mouse MIRI model (n = 10). (B) Serum levels of cardiac troponin I were measured by ELISA (n = 10). (C,D) Representative images of tissue after staining with hematoxylin-eosin are shown together with average histopathology scores (n = 4). Neutrophil infiltration in myocardium was quantified per field (n = 6 for each group; original magnification, ×40). Scale bar, 100 μm. Data are mean ±  SEM. *p < 0.05 vs. IR; ^#p < 0.05 vs. PC6+IR. (Histology scores of injury severity were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis rank test and Mann-Whitney U test. All other data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni correction.) (F) Levels of myocardial acetylcholine (Ach) were measured in healthy animals with or without electroacupuncture without subsequent ischemia-reperfusion (n = 6). Data are mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05 vs. Normal (one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni correction).