[Influence of electroacupuncture stimulation of delivery-facilitating acupoints with different stimulating parameters on serum endocrine hormones of late-stage pregnant rats].

Objective To observe the influence of electroacupuncture(EA) stimulation of "Hegu"(LI 4) and "Sanyinjiao"(SP 6;a classical delivery-facilitating acupoint recipe) at different parameters on endocrine hormone levels of late-stage pregnant rats,so as to find the better stimulation parameters for delivery facilitation.Methods Ninety-six female Wistar rats were randomly divided into eight groups: normal control(normal),pregnancy(model),EA-15 Hz,EA-30 Hz,EA-50 Hz,EA-2 Hz/15 Hz,EA-2 Hz/30 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz,with 12 rats in each group except EA-30 Hz group(n=10).EA stimulation(0.2 to 0.3 mA) was delivered to bilateral LI 4 for 20 min and then bilateral SP 6 for 5 min(25 min).The contents of serum estradiol(E2),progesterone(P) and prostaglandin E2(PGE2) were detected by ELISA.Results Compared with the normal group,se-rum E2,P and PGE2 contents were significantly increased in the pregnancy model group(P0.01),and E2 / P level was down-regulated mildly(P0.05).Compared with the model group,the contents of serum E2 in the EA-15 Hz,EA-30 Hz,EA-50 Hz,EA-2 Hz/15 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz groups,serum PGE2 contents in the EA-15 Hz,EA-30 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz groups,and E2/P levels in the EA-15 Hz,EA-30 Hz,EA-50 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz groups were significantly increased(P0.01,P0.05),whereas serum P contents in the EA-15 Hz,EA-30 Hz,EA-50 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz groups were significantly down-regulated(P0.01,P0.05).The effects of EA-2 Hz/50 Hz group were significantly superior to those of EA-2 Hz/15 Hz and EA-2 Hz/30 Hz groups in raising serum E2 and E2/P levels(P0.05,P0.01).No significant differences were found among the EA-15 Hz,EA-30 Hz,EA-50 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz groups in raising serum E2,PGE2 and E2/P levels,and among the EA-30 Hz,EA-50 Hz and EA-2 Hz/50 Hz groups in lowering serum P levels(P0.05).It displayed that the effects of EA at 15 Hz,30 Hz and 2 Hz/50 Hz on the abovementioned 4 indexes were relatively better.Conclusion EA of LI 4 and SP 6 at 15 Hz,30 Hz and 2 Hz/50 Hz can effectively up-regulate serum E2,PGE2 and E2/P levels and down-regulate serum P content in pregnancy rats,which may contribute to its effect in promoting labor.