| Objective: To explore the impacts of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) combined with acupoint acupuncture on the learning and memory ability, nerve cell autophagy, and the expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) in ischemic stroke rats. Methods: In total, 45 healthy male SPF SD rats were selected. Among them, 35 rats were used to establish a stroke model. Totally, 30 rats were successfully modeled and then divided into the ischemic stroke group, the tDCS group, and the combined group, with 10 rats in each group. The remaining 10 rats served as the control group. The control group and the ischemic stroke group received no intervention. The tDCS group was treated with tDCS once a day for 14 days. The combined group received acupoint acupuncture intervention in addition to tDCS treatment once a day for 14 days. The Morris water maze test was employed to assess the learning and memory ability. Pathological changes were ob-served by hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The expression of BDNF and NGF was detected by immunohistochemistry. Western blotting was used to detect the nerve cell autophagy-related proteins Beclin1 and LC3, and reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was applied to detect Beclin1 and LC3 mR-NA. Results: Compared with the control group, the escape latency, orientation angle, Beclin1 and LC3 protein expression level increased, while the residence time in the third quadrant (RTQ), cross-platform frequency, and BDNF and NGF content decreased in the ischemic stroke group (P<0.05). Compared with the ischemic stroke group, the escape latency, orientation angle, Beclin1 and LC3 protein expression level decreased, while the RTQ, cross-platform frequency, and BDNF and NGF content increased in the tDCS group (P<0.05). Compared with the tDCS group, the escape latency, orientation angle，Beclin1 and LC3 protein expression level further decreased, while the RTQ, cross-platform frequency, and BDNF and NGF content further increased in the combined group (P<0.05). HE staining results demonstrated that the brain tissue of rats in the control group was intact, while that in the ischemic stroke group was severely damaged, with a large number of cells showing disordered arrangement and vacuolar degeneration. The pathological conditions in both the tDCS group and the combined group were alleviated, and the morphology of nerve cell nuclei and nucleoli gradually became clear and complete, with the combined group showing the most significant improvement. Conclusion: The tDCS combined with acupoint acupuncture exerts a favorable effect on the treatment of stroke. The mechanism may be associated with enhancing learning and memory ability, improving nerve cell autophagy, and regulating the levels of BDNF and NGF. |
