Acupuncture Decreases NF-κB p65, miR-155, and miR-21 and Increases miR-146a Expression in Chronic Atrophic Gastritis Rats

Acupuncture has been used to treat chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for centuries. In this study, we evaluated the effect of acupuncture at Zusanli (ST36), Zhongwan (CV12), and Pishu (BL20) acupoints on weight changes of rats, histological changes of gastric glands, and expressions changes of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) p65, microRNA- (miR-) 155, miR-21, and miR-146a in CAG rats induced by N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) combined with irregular diet. Consequently, we found that acupuncture treatment elevated body weight of rats significantly when compared to the model group. By observing histological changes, we found that the acupuncture group showed better improvement of gastric mucosa injury than the model group. Our results also demonstrated upregulation of NF-κB p65, miR-155, and miR-21 in gastric tissue of CAG rats and a positive correlation between miR-155 and miR-21. Relatively, expression of miR-146a was downregulated and negative correlation relationships between miR-146a and miR-155/miR-21 in CAG rats were observed. Additionally, expressions of NF-κB p65, miR-155, and miR-21 were downregulated and miR-146a was upregulated after acupuncture treatment. Taken together, our data imply that acupuncture can downregulate NF-κB p65, miR-155, and miR-21 and upregulate miR-146a expression in CAG rats. NF-κB p65, miR-155, miR-21, and miR-146a may play important roles in therapeutic effect of acupuncture in treating CAG.