Research Article

Effects of Electroacupuncture on the Daily Rhythmicity of Intestinal Movement and Circadian Rhythmicity of Colonic Per2 Expression in Rats with Spinal Cord Injury

Figure 5

Effects of EA on circadian rhythmicity of colonic Per2 gene expression in rats with SCI. (a) Relative expressions of colonic Per2 mRNA in sham, SCI, and SCI+EA groups were determined by real-time RT-PCR. GAPDH was used as an inner control. Results are shown as mean ± SD (/group/time point). (b) Data were analyzed by Cosinor analysis using MATLAB. Top: -axis: relative expression of colonic Per2 mRNA, -axis: Zeitgeber time, 0–12: daytime (7:00–19:00), 12–24: nighttime (19:00–7:00). The blue curve is the original average value (relative expression of colonic Per2 mRNA); the red curve is the fitting cosine curve based on the average of the relative expression of colonic Per2 mRNA. Bottom: for the sham group and for the SCI group, indicating a circadian rhythm in the sham and SCI groups. for the SCI+EA group, indicating no circadian rhythm in the SCI+EA group. Peaks of the sham, SCI, and SCI+EA were at , , and , corresponding to 19:39, 19:52, and 15:24, respectively.
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