Acupuncture has exhibited therapeutic effects on vascular dementia in our previous research. The mechanism of its anti-dementia effects involves energy metabolism. For brain cells, glucose metabolism is almost the only source of energy, and glucose metabolism disorders are early signs of dementia. In addition, glucose metabolism associates closely with glycometabolic enzymes, thereby maintains normal energy supply in brains and neurological and mental activities. In order to investigate its anti-dementia mechanism, we studied the effects of acupuncture on behavior of multi-infarct dementia (MID) rats and glycometabolic enzymes protein expression and activities in their brains. Results showed acupuncture improved the cognitive disorder, and increased the activities of hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, and glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase. Accordingly, it suggests that the anti-dementia effects of acupuncture may be mediated by up regulation of hexokinase, pyruvate kinase, and glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase activities, influencing energy metabolic system and thus overcoming the dysfunctional cognition of MID.
Transplantation with neural stem cells (NSCs) is a promising clinical therapy for Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the final fate of grafted NSCs is mainly determined by the host microenvironment. Therefore, this study investigated the role of Sanjiao acupuncture in the NSCs-treated hippocampus of a mouse model, senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) using Western blot, real-time fluorescent PCR, and immunofluorescence techniques. Meanwhile, we developed a co-culture model of hippocampal tissue specimens and NSCs in vitro, to observe the effects of acupuncture on survival, proliferation and differentiation of grafted NSCs using flow cytometry. Results showed that acupuncture pre- and post-NSCs transplantation significantly improved senescence-induced cognitive dysfunction (P < 0.05); upregulated the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (P < 0.05); and also increased the count of neuron-specific nuclear protein (NeuN)- and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-positive cells (P < 0.05). Therapeutic acupuncture may regulate the cytokine levels associated with survival, proliferation, and differentiation of NSCs in hippocampal microenvironment, to promote the repair of damaged cells, resulting in improved cognitive performance in mice.
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