Purpose
In this study, We observed the rcovery process in the ability to move in the hind limbs of the rats whose spinal cord injuries were treated by Aqua-acupuncture with Radix aconiti(RA) at chok-samni(ST36), the purpose of this study is to see the effects of Aqua-acupuncture with RA at ST36 of the contraction of rat´s spinal cord injury.
Procedure
First, the rats were subjected to hemisectional spinal cord injuries by a scalpel blade. Those rats, then, were divided into three groups: Sham operated rats group and the experimental group, which received the Aqua-acupuncture with Ra at ST36, and the control group, which had no treatment. Their recovery in the ability to walk was observed by the Open Field Test(OFT) for 14 days after the injuries.
Method
The acupuncture point used was ST36 with RA on spinal cord injured rat.
The OFT was applied at four points: the hip, knee, ankle joint, and the tail. Each joint was given a movement rating of from 0 to 3, depending on the amount of movement. A movement rating of 0 designates no movement, a 1 designates slight movement, a 2 designates increased movement, and a 3 designates active movement. Slight movement is defined as a joint displaying less than or equal to 30% of that joint range, increased movement is displaying less than or equal to 60% of that joint´s range, and active movement is greater than or equal to 90% of that joint´s range. Tail movement is also graded on a scale of 0 to 3. A rating of 0 indicates that the tail is down 100% of the time, one of 1 indicates that the tail is down more than 50%, one of 2 shows that the tail is down less than 50% but more than 10% of the time, and one of 3 shows that the tail is down less than 10% of the time. All four ratings were added together and then averaged to arrive at a single score.
Results
The sham group which did not go through spinal cord injuries showed near normal results on all 3 joints and tail from right after the operation, which one world expect. The Aqua-acupuncture with RA group showed more effective recovery of movement function than the control group around 4 days after the spinal cord injuries. However, after 14 days, both groups displayed almost the same degree of movement recovery.
The results of this study are summarized as follows:
1. After 14days the spinal cord injuries, movement was recovered in sham operated group, control group, and experimented group in the hip, the knee, the tail and then the ankle of rats, in that order.
2. Around 7 days after the spinal cord injuries, the experimental group proved the effectiveness of the therapy in terms of movement recovery.
3. The level of ALT, ALP, AST in RA treated group was slightly increased.
4. The level of BUN and creatinine in RA treated group was slightly increased.
The above results indicate that The Aqua-acupuncture with Ra at an early stage can bring about better movement recovery in patients with spinal cord injuries from traffic accidents or industrial disasters.
But there is apparent side effect of Ra on clinical, therefore the study on this should be continued.
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