Electroacupuncture alleviates ciliary muscle cell apoptosis in lens-induced myopic guinea pigs through inhibiting the mitochondrial signaling pathway
Authors:   Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China, Yang Zhao-Hui , Liu Jin-Peng ,   Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China, Bao Bo ,   Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China, Li Tu-Ling ,   Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250014, Shandong Province, China, Wu Qiu-Xin ,   Affiliated Eye Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center of Optometry and Adolescent Low Vision Prevention and Control, Jinan 250002, Shandong Province, China, He Ming-Guang ,   State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China, Bi Hong-Sheng ,   Affiliated Eye Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shandong Provincial Clinical Medical Research Center of Optometry and Adolescent Low Vision Prevention and Control, Jinan 250002, Shandong Province, China, Guo Da-Dong ,   Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine for Prevention and Therapy of Ocular Diseases, Shandong Academy of Eye Disease Prevention and Therapy, Medical College of Optometry and Ophthalmology, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan 250002, Shandong Province, China
Published: November 2023

AIM: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on the mitochondria-dependent apoptotic signaling pathway in the ciliary muscle of guinea pigs with negative lens-induced myopia (LIM).
METHODS: Guinea pigs were randomly divided into normal control (NC) group, LIM group, LIM+SHAM acupoint (LIM+SHAM) group, and LIM+EA group. Animals in the NC group received no intervention, while those in other three groups were covered with -6.0 diopter (D) lenses on right eyes. Meanwhile, animals in the LIM+EA group received EA at Hegu (LI4) combined with Taiyang (EX-HN5) acupoints, while those in the LIM+SHAM group were treated at sham points. After treatments for 1, 2, and 4wk, morphological changes in ciliary muscles were observed with hematoxylin and eosin (H&#x0026;E) staining and nick end labeling (TUNEL), and the expression of the mitochondrial apoptotic signaling pathway-related molecules in ciliary muscles was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot. Additionally, the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) contents were also determined in ciliary muscles.
RESULTS: Axial length increased significantly in the LIM and LIM+SHAM groups and decreased in the LIM+EA group. The ciliary muscle fibers were broken and destroyed in both LIM and LIM+SHAM groups, whereas those in the LIM+EA group improved significantly. TUNEL assay showed the number of apoptotic cells increased in the LIM and LIM+SHAM groups, whereas reduced in the LIM+EA group. ATP contents showed a significant decrease in the LIM and LIM+SHAM groups, whereas increased after EA treatment. Compared with the NC group, the dynamin-related protein 1 (DRP1), Caspase3, and apoptotic protease activator 1 (APAF1) levels were significantly increased in the LIM group and decreased in the LIM+EA group.
CONCLUSION: The results provide evidence of EA inhibiting the development of myopia by regulating the mitochondrial apoptotic signaling pathway.