Electroacupuncture interventions alleviates myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury through regulating gut microbiota in rats

• Published in: Microvascular research Vol. 138; p. 104235
• Main Authors: Bai, Hua, Gu, Ren-Jun, Chen, Li-Yao, Qian, Yi, Yu, Mei-Ling, Xu, Sen-Lei, Xia, Xue-Feng, Liu, Yu-Chen, Zhang, Hong-Ru, Gu, Yi-Huang, Lu, Sheng-Feng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Acute-Phase Proteins; Animals; Bacteria - growth & development; Bacteria - metabolism; Cardioprotection; Carrier Proteins - blood; Disease Models, Animal; Dysbiosis; Electroacupuncture; Electroacupuncture intervention; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Gut microbiota; Inflammation; Inflammation Mediators - metabolism; Intestinal Mucosa - microbiology; Lipopolysaccharides - blood; Male; Membrane Glycoproteins - blood; Myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - blood; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - microbiology; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - pathology; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury - prevention & control; Myocardium - metabolism; Myocardium - pathology; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Ventricular Function, Left; Gut microbiota; Inflammation; Electroacupuncture intervention; Myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury; Cardioprotection
• ISSN: 0026-2862; 1095-9319; 1095-9319
• DOI: 10.1016/j.mvr.2021.104235

Electroacupuncture (EA) intervention has a remarkable cardioprotection against myocardial ischemia reperfusion injury (MIRI). Recently, it has been suggested that the gut microbiota plays an important role in regulating the progression and prognosis of MIRI. The purpose of this study was to illustrate the relationship between gut microbiota and cardioprotection of EA on MIRI. We conducted a MIRI model by ligating the left anterior descending coronary artery for 30 min followed by reperfusion in male Sprague Dawley rats, which then received 7 days of EA intervention. Echocardiography was employed to evaluate left ventricular function. Fecal samples were collected for microbial analysis by 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing. Blood samples and myocardium were collected for inflammatory cytokine detection by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot. Hematoxylin & eosin (HE) staining and immunofluorescence of ileum tissue were performed for intestinal damage evaluation. After 7 days of EA intervention, the left ventricular function was improved with significantly increased ejection fraction and fractional shortening. Furthermore, we found that EA intervention reversed the changed gut microbiota induced by MIRI, including Clostridiales, RF39, S24-7, Desulfovibrio, and Allobaculum, improved the impaired gut barrier, reduced the production and circulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), inhibited the level of interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interleukin 12 (IL-12) in periphery and decreased the expression of Toll like receptor 4 (TLR4) and IL-6 in myocardium. EA intervention could improve the impaired gut mucosal barrier and reduce the production and circulation of LPS after MIRI through regulating gut microbiota, thus inhibiting the circulation and myocardium inflammation and finally exerted the cardioprotective effect. •Gut microbiota was involved in the cardioprotection of EA intervention after MIRI.•EA intervention could improve the impaired gut mucosal barrier after MIRI.•EA intervention reduced the production and circulation of LPS after MIRI.•EA intervention ameliorated circulation and myocardium inflammation after MIRI.