Effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on β-catenin immunoreactivity in the injured spinal cord of rats.
(A) Representative immunohistochemical staining for β-catenin expression (original magnification ×400). Red arrows indicate β-catenin-immunoreactive cells. Scale bars: 50 μm. (B) Semi-quantification of β-catenin immunoreactivity in the sham, SCI, and EA groups on days 1, 7, and 14 post-injury. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM (n = 5 rats per group). **P < 0.01, vs. the sham group; #P < 0.05, ##P < 0.01, vs. the SCI group (one-way analysis of variance followed by post hoc least significant difference test). The sham group underwent laminectomy only, the SCI group underwent laminectomy + SCI induction at T10, and the EA group underwent laminectomy + SCI induction at T10 + EA intervention. SCI: Spinal cord injury; IOD: integrated optical density.