Objective To observe the effect of acupuncture of intraorbital and extraorbital acupoints on apoptosis and expression of Bax

Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 proteins of retinal ganglion tissue in rabbits with nonarteritis anterior ischemic optic neuropathy(NAION)

so as to reveal its mechanism underlying improvement of NAION.Methods Female New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into four groups:model

intraocular needling(ION)

extraocular needling(EON)

ION+EON groups(n=5 per group)

and the 5 healthy eyes of those rabbits in the model group were selected to be used as the control group.The NAION model of the right eye was established by photodynamic stroke method.For ION group

acupoints "Jingming"(BL1)

"Chengqi"(ST1)and "Qiuhou"(EX-HN7)were needled

and for EON group

"Cuanzhu"(BL2)

"Yuyao"(EX-HN4)and"Qiaoming"(EX)were needled with filiform needles

followed by retaining the needles for 30 min.For ION+EON group

the 6 acupoints were needled simutaneously.The treatment was conducted once daily for 3 days.The apoptosis of retinal ganglion tissue was detected by using TUNEL fluorescence labeling

and the expression of Bax

Bcl-2 and active Caspase-3 in the retinal ganglion were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results Following modeling and compared with the control group

the number of the apoptotic cells

and the expression levels of Bax and Caspase-3 proteins

as well as the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 were significantly increased in the model group(P<0.01)

while the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly decreased(P<0.01).After intervention

the number of the apoptotic cells in the ION

EON and ION+EON groups

and the ratio of Bax/Bcl-2 in EON and ION+EON groups

and the expression of Caspase-3 proteins in the ION and ION+EON groups were significantly down-regulated(P <0.01

P<0.05)

and the expression levels of Bcl-2 in both EON and ION+EON groups were significantly up-regulated in comparison with the model group(P<0.01).No significant changes were found in the expression levels of Bax in the 3 needling groups relevant to the model group(P>0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture of intraorbital and extraorbital acupoints can reduce apoptosis of retinal ganglion in NAION rabbits via inhibiting the activation of Caspase-3 protein and ratio of Bax/Bcl-2

and up-regulating the expression of Bcl-2 protein.