Protective effect of emitted qi on the primary culture of neurocytes in vitro against free radical damage

This paper reported the protective effects of the emitted qi on cultured neurons damaged by free radical. The neuronal cell's suspension was made with the cerebral cortex of Wistar O-day newborn rats and it was cultured in dishes. At 8th--day postplating, the dishes were divided into 3 groups, i. e., the emitted qi group, damaged group and normal control group. The neurons of the first two groups were injured by hydroxyl free radical generated in the ascorbic acid system. We observed that the brightness of the somatic margin in the damaged group turned from bright to dark, the volume of neuronal somata increased, the number of neissl boby decreased, the effusion of LDH increased and GSH-Px activity changed obviously. These evidences indicated the neurons in the damaged group had swelling or degenerating. But in the emitted qi group, the effusion of LDH was less than that of the damaged group. Both groups showed an obvious difference (P< 0.01-0.001), GSH-Px activity changed a little. The results show that the emitted qi may act as a scavenger of hydroxy radical and protect the nerve cell membrane.