Electroacupuncture Pretreatment Regulates Apoptosis of Myocardial Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Rats Through RhoA/p38MAPK Pathway Mediated by miR-133a-5p

The electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment possesses a beneficial effect on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. However, the molecular mechanism of the EA effect is not fully understood. The study aimed to explore the protective effect of EA pretreatment on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI) and apoptosis-related mechanisms in rats. Rats underwent in vivo myocardial ischemia-reperfusion, EA pretreatment, or intravenous injection of antagomirs. Cardiac function, infarct area, and myocardial cell apoptosis were measured. Meanwhile, the expressions of MKK3, MKK6, p38MAPK, Bax, Bcl-2, and Caspase-3 were also detected. We found that EA pretreatment significantly reduced infarct area and myocarpal cell apoptosis and enhanced cardiac function. EA pretreatment decreased the expression of Bax, Caspase-3, MKK3, MKK6, p38MAPK, Bax, and Caspase-3. In conclusion, The EA pretreatment down regulated the expression of MKK3, MKK6, and p38MAPK through the RhoA/p38MAPK pathway. EA pretreatment protect MIRI rats from apoptosis by down regulating the expression of MKK3, MKK6, and p38MAPK, thereby reducing the expression of Bax, Caspase-3 and up regulating the expression of Bcl-2, which mechanism is closely related to the RhoA/p38MAPK pathway mediated by miR-133a-5p.