Acupunct Electrother Res. 2003 ; 28(1-2): 1-10.

Effect of acupuncture on nitric oxide synthase expression in cerebral cortex of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Jang MH, Shin MC, Kim YP, Kim EH, Kim CJ.

Dept. of Physiology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.

Effect of acupuncture on the expressions of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and neuronal NOS (nNOS) in the cerebral cortex of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats was investigated. Animals were divided into four groups; the control group, the nondiabetic and acupunctured group, the STZ-induced-diabetes group, and the STZ-induced diabetic and acupunctured group. To produce the diabetic animal model, a single intraperitoneal injection of STZ (50 mg/kg) was given to each animal; animals of the nondiabetic groups received equivalent amounts of normal saline, also via intraperitoneal injection. From the results, acupuncture was shown to increase the numbers of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase-positive and nNOS-positive neurons in STZ-induced diabetic rats. From the present study, it may be suggested that acupuncture modulates NOS and nNOS expressions in the cerebral cortex under diabetic conditions.