Effects Of Scalp Acupuncture On Functional Deficits Induced By Early Sensorimotor Restriction

Publication date: Available online 24 April 2019Source: Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian StudiesAuthor(s): Angela Kemel Zanella, Jessié Martins Gutierres, Felipe StiggerAbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the effects of scalp acupuncture and electrostimulation, combined or not, in a disuse model consisted of early sensorimotor restriction in rats. Male Wistar pups received sensorimotor restriction from the second postnatal day (P2) until P28. Animals were divided in 5 different groups (n=6): control (CT), sensorimotor restricted (SR), acupuncture (AC), electrostimulation (EL) and electro-acupuncture (AC+EL). Experimental animals received sham, acupuncture or electrical stimulation, combined or not, of two scalp regions for seven days (P29-P35). Previously to treatment period (P29) and after treatment (P36) animals were evaluated with the narrow suspended bar, horizontal ladder and stride length tests. SR animals had worse performance in the narrow suspended and horizontal ladder tasks compared to SR animals at P29 (p≤0.005). Significant improvements were observed in both tasks in AC, EL and EL+AC groups comparing P29 and P36 (p<0.001). Also, at P35 all treated animals performed significantly better motor tasks compared to SR group (p<0.05). There was no difference between treated groups. Finally, acupuncture and electrical stimulation, combined or not, have beneficial effect on motor performance following early developmental disuse.
Source: Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies - Category: Complementary Medicine Source Type: research