迷走神经电刺激对脑外伤后昏迷大鼠前额叶皮质去甲肾上腺素α1受体表达变化的影响

关键词：迷走神经电刺激  脑外伤  昏迷  促醒  去甲肾上腺素α1受体

Keywords:vagus nerve stimulation  traumatic brain injury  coma  wake-promoting  α1-adrenergic receptor

摘要：

      摘要 目的：探讨迷走神经电刺激（vagus nerve stimulation， VNS）对脑外伤（traumatic brain injury， TBI）后昏迷大鼠的促醒作用及其可能机制。 方法：健康成年SD大鼠90只，随机分为空白对照组、假刺激组和刺激组。TBI后昏迷大鼠给予VNS治疗，观察其行为学变化，并通过免疫组织化学和Western-blot技术检测各实验组大鼠前额叶皮质（prefrontal cortex， PFC）组织中去甲肾上腺素α1受体（α1R）含量。 结果：假刺激组和刺激组大鼠各30只，观察行为学变化发现，刺激组中20只出现翻正反射，假刺激组仅8只出现翻正反射；将3个实验组中α1R含量进行两两比较，发现刺激组α1R水平均显著高于其他两组（P＜0.05）。 结论：VNS可改善TBI后昏迷大鼠的意识状态水平，对促进TBI后昏迷大鼠的觉醒有积极的治疗作用，其机制可能与PFC去甲肾上腺素α1R水平上调有关。

Abstract:

      Abstract Objective: To investigate the wake-promoting action of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) induced coma rats and its possible mechanism. Method: Ninety healthy Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control, sham-stimulated (TBI) and stimulated (TBI+VNS) group. VNS was applied to rats after TBI induced coma models. Then, to observe the changes in the behavior of rats and to detect the content of α1-adrenergic receptor in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) by using immunohistochemistry and Western-blotting techniques. Result: Twenty rats in the stimulated group exhibited righting reflex and 8 rats had the same responses in TBI group. In stimulated group, the level of α1-adrenergic receptor in PFC were significantly higher than those in other groups (P＜0.05). Conclusion: VNS can improve the level of consciousness of the rats after TBI-coma, and has a positive effect on wake-promoting action. The potential mechanism might be related to upregulating the expression of α1-adrenergic receptor in PFC.