Electroacupuncture preconditioning alleviated myocardial injury via regulating mitochondrial function

Background In clinical research, integrated Chinese and Western medicine has been increasing accepted due to the advantages. Clinical studies related to bupivacaine-induced myocardial injury are considered indispensable. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to verify whether acupuncture preconditioning could alleviate side effect of bupivacaine-induced. Methods Simulating bupivacaine-induced myocardial injury in clinical surgery, western blot, PCR, transmission electron microscope, Elisa methods were used to evaluate the bupivacaine-induced structure injury and dysfunction of mitochondria, and alleviating effect of lipid emulsion, acupoint injection, and electroacupuncture pre-treatment oxidase stress response. Results Bupivacaine caused structural damage, degradation, and swelling of mitochondria. Furthermore, it reduced adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis and impaired energy metabolism in mitochondria. Structural and functional impairment of mitochondria were alleviated via lipid emulsion injection, acupoint injection, and electroacupuncture pre-treatment. Electroacupuncture pre-treatment yielded a greater alleviating effect than the other two approaches. Following electroacupuncture pre-treatment, the number of mitochondria increased, apoptosis was reduced, enzymatic activity of cytochrome C oxidase and superoxide dismutases, expression of uncoupling protein 2, Voltage-dependent anion channel 1, and Bcl 2 were upregulated and SLC25A6, MDA level was downregulated. Additionally, our findings indicated that electroacupuncture pre-treatment exerted an effect on mitochondria via the mitochondrial transcription factor A / nuclear respiratory factor 1 / proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator -1 pathway. Conclusion Our study revealed that electroacupuncture pre-treatment could effectively alleviate bupivacaine-induced myocardial mitochondrial damage, thereby providing a theoretical basis for clinical studies and application of this treatment method.