Electroacupuncture at the Zusanli (ST-36) Acupoint Induces a Hypoglycemic Effect by Stimulating the Cholinergic Nerve in a Rat Model of Streptozotocine-Induced Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Table 1

Influence of atropine, eserine and HC-3 on plasma glucose levels in STZ rats that underwent EA treatment at ST-36.

Group (n = 6)	Before	After	HGA%
Atropine + EA	413 ± 29	408 ± 32	–1 ± 4
Atropine	480 ± 51	480 ± 54	0 ± 2
Eserine + EA	406 ± 55	331 ± 57**	–19 ± 6^#
Eserine	460 ± 111	417 ± 105	–9 ± 6
HC-3 + EA	510 ± 109	494 ± 106	–3 ± 7
HC-3	491 ± 61	471 ± 50	–4 ± 4

The levels of plasma glucose are expressed as mean ± SEM (mg dl⁻¹), n: sample number; atropine: atropine 0.1 mg kg⁻¹ i.p. treatment; atropine + EA: atropine 0.1 mg kg⁻¹ i.p. treatment prior to EA; eserine + EA: eserine 0.01 mg kg⁻¹ i.p. treatment prior to EA; HC-3: HC-3, 5 𝜇g kg⁻¹ i.p. treatment; Before: plasma glucose levels 30 min following medicinal treatment; After: plasma glucose levels following 30 min of EA treatment to ST-36; HGA%: hypoglycemic activity; comparison of before and after EA treatment by self-pair t-test ^∗∗𝑃<.01 versus before; Student’s t-test ^#𝑃<.05 versus the control group.