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Page 6 of 13 Souza et al. Neuroimmunol Neuroinflammation 2019;6:12 I http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-8659.2019.04

A B

Figure 1. Apipuncture improves locomotor performance in SCI rats. The results of apipuncture at GV3 and ST36 acupoints [BV (ST36 +
GV3)-SCI, n = 7] were compared to apipuncture at non-acupoints [BV (NP)-SCI, n = 8], control group without manipulation (CTL-SCI, n
= 7) and Sham (n = 7) in rats submitted to compression SCI model. BV (ST36 + GV3)-SCI had higher BBB scores (A) at 7, 10, 14, 21, 28
and 25 days after SCI and lower footfalls in Grid-walking test (B) than CTL-SCI and BV (NP)-SCI groups at 35 days after SCI. Values are
presented as mean ± SEM. *P < 0.05 and ***P < 0.001 compared to CTL-SCI and BV (NP)-SCI groups. BV: bee venom; NP: non-acupoints;
BBB: Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan; SCI: spinal cord injury

A B

C D

Figure 2. Influence of apipuncture in the mRNA expression of M1 (iNOS) and M2 (TGF-β and Arg-1) phenotype markers and COX-2 in
the spinal cord 1, 3 and 5 days after SCI. The graph represents the iNOS (A), TGF-β (B), Arg-1 (C) and COX-2 (D) mRNA expression at the
site of spinal cord injury in rats submitted to SCI and apipuncture at ST36 and GV3 points [BV (ST36)-SCI; n = 5], SCI and apipuncture at
non-acupoints [BV (NP)-SCI, n = 5], only SCI (CTL-SCI, n = 5) and Sham-SCI (n = 5). Values are presented as mean ± SEM, ***P < 0.001
compared to CTL-SCI and BV (NP)-SCI. BV: bee venom; NP: non-acupoints; SCI: spinal cord injury

test; P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively), and higher expression of Arg-1 and TGF-β mRNA (M2 markers)
than BV (NP)-SCI and CTL-SCI controls (P < 0.05) in the 5th day after SCI [Figure 2].