Effect of electroacupuncture on systemic hemodynamics in rats with postinfarction cardiosclerosis

Abstract

Electroacupuncture decreased total peripheral vascular resistance and increased cardiac output in 12-week-old postinfarction rats without cardiac insufficiency, while opposite changes were observed in rats with cardiac insufficiency. After the electroacupuncture course, norepinephrine decreased cardiac output in the rats with cardiac insufficiency, while acetylcholine increased it to a much higher extent than in the control rats that were not subjected to physiotherapy. Key Words: cardiac insufficiency; the pumping action of the heart; electroacupuncturePostinfarction cardiac insufficiency results mainly from disturbances of contractile and pumping action of the heart and of vascular tone regulation. Pharmacological and surgical correction of cardiac insufficiency are not always efficient, so nonmedicamentous treatment is gaining importance. Electroacupuncture (EAP) improves the performance of the ischemic heart [13,15]. EAP enhances cardiac tolerance to stressor, hypoxic, and ischemic damage [1,5]. In addition, EAP decreases the ischemic necrosis area [5] and moderates the responsiveness of myocardium [9] and blood vessels [6] to epinephrine.The long-term effects of EAP on the cardiovascular system after myocardial infarction have not been adequately investigated. Our aim was to study the effect of EAP on systemic hemodynamics in rats with a long-term postinfarction cardiosclerosis (PICS).