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Introduction and hypothesis: To examine the changes induced by electroacupuncture in stress urinary incontinence rats, including the urodynamics and collagen degradation-related cytokine molecular biological expression changes, and to explore the effect and mechanism of electroacupuncture treatment in stress urinary incontinence.
Methods: Female SPF Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to five groups (n = 10): sham, model, electroacupuncture control, electroacupuncture, and blocker. The leak point pressure (LPP) and maximum bladder capacity (MBC) were measured for each group of rats, and collagen I, collagen III, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) in the anterior vaginal wall of rats in each group were determined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. The data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance or Kruskal-Wallis test.
Results: Electroacupuncture Shenshu (BL23) and Huiyang (BL35) increased the LPP and MBC in stress urinary incontinence rats (P < 0.05). Electroacupuncture treatment significantly increased the protein expression of collagen I and collagen III in the anterior vaginal wall of stress urinary incontinence rats (P < 0.05) and significantly reduced the protein expression of MMP1, MMP2, and MMP9 (P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Electroacupuncture stimulation can alleviate the signs of stress urinary incontinence, and its mechanism is related to the degradation of collagen in the anterior vaginal wall.
Reference: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35226143/