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Effect of Electro-acupuncture on Ovarian Expression of a (1)- and ß (2)-adrenoceptors, and p75 Neurotrophin Receptors in Rats with Steroid-induced Polycystic Ovaries
Reproductive Biology &Endocrinology 2005 published by BioMed Central
An Open Access Research article

Effect of Electro-acupuncture on Ovarian Expression of α (1)- and β (2)-adrenoceptors, 
and p75 Neurotrophin Receptors in Rats with Steroid-induced Polycystic Ovaries

Luigi Manni1, 2 , Thomas Lundeberg3 , Agneta Holmäng1 , Luigi Aloe2 and Elisabet Stener-Victorin1, 4, 5 


1Cardiovascular Institute and Wallenberg Laboratory, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
2Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine (CNR), Rome, Italy
3Rehabilitation Medicine, Karolinska Hospital, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
4Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sahlgrenska, SE-413 45 Göteborg, Sweden
5Institute of Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden

Published 7 June 2005 
Background
Estradiol valerate (EV)-induced polycystic ovaries (PCO) in rats is associated with an increase in ovarian sympathetic outflow. Low-frequency (2 Hz) electro-acupuncture (EA) has been shown to modulate sympathetic markers as well as ovarian blood flow as a reflex response via the ovarian sympathetic nerves, in rats with EV-induced PCO.

Methods
In the present study, we further tested the hypothesis that repeated 2 Hz EA treatments modulate ovarian sympathetic outflow in rats with PCO, induced by a single i.m. injection of EV, by investigating the mRNA expression, the amount and distribution of proteins of α1a-, α1b-, α1d-, and β2-adrenoceptors (ARs), as well as the low-affinity neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR).

Results
It was found that EV injection results in significantly higher mRNA expression of ovarian α1b- and α1d-AR in PCO rats compared to control rats. The p75NTR and β2-ARs mRNA expression were unchanged in the PCO ovary. Low-frequency EA resulted in a significantly lower expression of β2-ARs mRNA expression in PCO rats. The p75NTR mRNA was unaffected in both PCO and control rats. PCO ovaries displayed significantly higher amount of protein of α1a-, α1b- and α1d-ARs, and of p75NTR, compared to control rats, that were all counteracted by repeated low-frequency EA treatments, except for α1b-AR.

Conclusion
The present study shows that EA normalizes most of the EV-induced changes in ovarian ARs. Furthermore, EA was able to prevent the EV-induced up regulation of p75NTR, probably by normalizing the sympathetic ovarian response to NGF action. Our data indicate a possible role of EA in the regulation of ovarian responsiveness to sympathetic inputs and depict a possible complementary therapeutic approach to overcoming sympathetic-related anovulation in women with PCOS.
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© 2005 Manni et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited