Electroacupuncture stimulation at Yanglingquan acupoint ameliorates hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by down-regulating ET-1 to inhibit TAK1-JNK/p38 pathway

The current study set out to investigate the molecular mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation at Yanglingquan acupoint (GB34) in hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (HIRI) in rats via regulation of the endothelin-1 (ET-1) mediated transforming growth factor-β-activated kinase-1 (TAK1)-c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK)/p38 signaling pathway. First, EA stimulation was applied to the constructed rat model of HIRI at GB34. Subsequently, the activities of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) in liver tissues were measured. Apoptotic changes in liver tissues in rats with HIRI were observed using TUNEL staining. Western blot assay was employed to determine the expression patterns of Bcl-2, Bax, c-caspase-3 and the activation of TAK1-JNK/p38 signaling pathway, and immunohistochemistry was conducted to determine the protein expression patterns of c-caspase-3 and ET-1. In addition, ELISA was performed to determine the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-6 in serum. The results demonstrated a significant decline in the activities of AST and ALT and hepatocyte apoptosis in rats with HIRI following EA stimulation. Meanwhile, EA stimulation brought about decreases in the expression levels of Bcl-2, Bax and c-caspase-3, MPO activity, TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in serum, and diminished those of ET-1 in liver tissues, in addition to inhibiting the TAK1-JNK/p38 signaling pathway. Over-expression of ET-1 could counter the inhibitory effects of EA stimulation of HIRI in rats. Together, our findings indicate that EA stimulation at GB34 down-regulates the expression of ET-1, which inhibits the TAK1-JNK/p38 signaling pathway, consequently alleviating HIRI in rats.