JI Caishuo, MA Siming，YANG Nana，TIAN Zhongxue，YANG Jingwen，SHAO Jiakai，WANG Xuerui，LIU Cunzhi

(1 Beijing Hospital of TCM Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Acupuncture Neuromodulation, Beijing 100010, China;2 Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Beijing 100029)

Abstract:  Objective  To  observe  the  effects  of  acupuncture  on  The  Level  of  Inflammatory cytokines  and  toll-like  receptor  4  in  hypothalamic  paraventricular  nucleus （ PVN ）   of Spontaneously  hypertensive  rats （SHR）；To  investigate  the  mechanisms  of  acupuncture  in reduction of mean arterial blood pressure（MAP）  in SHR. Methods 30 SHR were randomized into SHR group, acupuncture group and non-acupoint group. 10 Wistar Kyoto (WKY) group was set  as  control  group. After  treatment,  the  MAP  was  measured  by  the  tail-cuff  method. Tumor 

Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α  and interleukin (IL)-6 were detected by ELISA . RT -PCR was used to detect TLR4  mRNA  expression,  and  the  protein  expression  of TLR4  in  PVN  was  assayed  by Western blot. Results  Compared with WKY group, the MAP of SHR group significantly increased, the  level  of  inflammatory  cytokines  and  the  expression  of  TLR4  in  the  PVN  of  SHR  rats significantly  increased  (P<0.05).  After  the  acupuncture  treatment,  the  MAP  of  SHR  rats significantly decreased (P<0.05). Acupuncture reduced the level of inflammatory cytokines and the  expression  of  TLR4  in  the  PVN  of  SHR  rats  (P<0.05).  There  was  no  obvious  difference between  SHR  group  and  non-acupoint  group.  Conclusion  Acupuncture  can  attenuate  blood pressure , inhibiting expression of TLR4 and reducing the level of inflammatory cytokines. These may be a mechanism of acupuncture on high blood pressure. 

Key words：Acupuncture, Hypertension, TLR4, Inflammatory cytokines