Fire needle up-regulates the expression of ERK1/2 in neural stem cells

Objective: To explore the effect of fire needle on the expression of ERK1/2 of neural stem cells (NSCs) obtained from rats with spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods: Sixty SD female rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, including 5 in the blank group, 5 in the sham operation group, 25 in the model group, and 25 in the fire needle treated group. Rats in the model group and the fire needle treated group were further divided into the 1d group, the 3d group, the 7d group, the 10d group and the 14d group, respectively. Modified Allen’s method was applied to build SCI model, and serum in the abdominal aorta was collected at the indicated time and placed into NSCs culture dishes for 72h. RT-PCR was applied to detect the expression of ERK1/2. Results: According to the Basso, Beattie Bresnahan scale (BBB scale), rats in the model group and the fire needle treated group scored 0 at first day, suggesting a success of modeling after treatment. The scores of the fire needle group were significantly higher than those in the model group (P 0.05). Compared with sham operation group, the expression of ERK1 and ERK 2 in model group and fire needle group were significantly decreased at day 1 (P 0.05), and lasted for 3d (P 0.05). At day 7 and day 10, the expressions of ERK1 and ERK2 in the fire needle group were significantly higher than those in the model group (both P 0.05). Conclusion: Fire needle could up-regulate the expression of ERK1 and ERK2 of NSCs from SCI rats.