Acupuncture-related treatments improve cognitive and physical functions in Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Lin, Chuan-Ju; Yeh, Mei‐Ling; Wu, Shu‐Fang Vivienne; Chung, Yu-Chu; Lee, Justin Chen-Hao

doi:10.1177/02692155221079117

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…EA has been recognized as a crucial treatment in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which applies the inserted needles with an electric stimulating current to the acupoints. Clinical trials have shown that EA-treatment improved cognitive outcomes in early and mid-stage AD patients, and notably on memory function in AD prodromal patients (Deng and Wang, 2016;Jia et al, 2017;Lin et al, 2022). A review summarized that EA at acupoints such as Baihui (DU20), Shenting (DU24), and Neiguan (PC6) effectively improve the score of cognitive tests in patients with cognitive impairment, respectively (Yin et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of entorhinal cortex–hippocampus connectivity and recognition memory following electroacupuncture on 3×Tg-AD model: Evidence from multimodal MRI and electrophysiological recordings

et al. 2022

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Memory loss and aberrant neuronal network activity are part of the earliest hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Electroacupuncture (EA) has been recognized as a cognitive stimulation for its effects on memory disorder, but whether different brain regions or neural circuits contribute to memory recovery in AD remains unknown. Here, we found that memory deficit was ameliorated in 3×Tg-AD mice with EA-treatment, as shown by the increased number of exploring and time spent in the novel object. In addition, reduced locomotor activity was observed in 3×Tg-AD mice, but no significant alteration was seen in the EA-treated mice. Based on the functional magnetic resonance imaging, the regional spontaneous activity alterations of 3×Tg-AD were mainly concentrated in the accumbens nucleus, auditory cortex, caudate putamen, entorhinal cortex (EC), hippocampus, insular cortex, subiculum, temporal cortex, visual cortex, and so on. While EA-treatment prevented the chaos of brain activity in parts of the above regions, such as the auditory cortex, EC, hippocampus, subiculum, and temporal cortex. And then we used the whole-cell voltage-clamp recording to reveal the neurotransmission in the hippocampus, and found that EA-treatment reversed the synaptic spontaneous release. Since the hippocampus receives most of the projections of the EC, the hippocampus-EC circuit is one of the neural circuits related to memory impairment. We further applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tracking and functional connectivity, and found that hypo-connected between the hippocampus and EC with EA-treatment. These data indicate that the hippocampus–EC connectivity is responsible for the recognition memory deficit in the AD mice with EA-treatment, and provide novel insight into potential therapies for memory loss in AD.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modulation of entorhinal cortex–hippocampus connectivity and recognition memory following electroacupuncture on 3×Tg-AD model: Evidence from multimodal MRI and electrophysiological recordings

et al. 2022

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“…therapeutic procedure that stimulates acupoints, has been thoroughly researched and used to treat Alzheimer's disease [33]. Acupuncture therapy improved cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease and elderly people with mild cognitive impairment, according to clinical studies and systematic reviews [34][35][36][37][38]. Animal studies have contributed to the discovery of the mechanism by which electroacupuncture protects neurons in Alzheimer's disease.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Electroacupuncture on the Correlation between Serum and Central Immunity in AD Model Animals

Jiang

Wang

et al. 2022

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Objective. The goal was to investigate the connection between neuroinflammation in the brain and serum inflammatory markers as Alzheimer’s disease progressed. We also sought to determine whether electroacupuncture had an effect on inflammatory markers found in blood and other brain regions. Methods. As an animal model for AD, we used senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice. To examine the effects and probable mechanism of electroacupuncture, we used HE staining, immunofluorescence staining, western blotting, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results. Electroacupuncture therapy protected neurons, significantly downregulated the Iba-1 level in the hippocampus ( p value was 0.003), frontal lobe cortex ( p value was 0.042), and temporal lobe cortex ( p value was 0.013) of the AD animal model, all of which had significantly lower levels of IL-6 ( p value was 0.001), IL-1β ( p value was 0.001), and TNF-α ( p value was 0.001) in their serum. Conclusion. The amounts of IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α detected in the serum were strongly linked to the levels discovered in the hippocampus and the frontal lobes of the brain, respectively. A better understanding of the electroacupuncture process as well as the course of Alzheimer’s disease and the therapeutic benefits of electroacupuncture may be gained by using biomarkers such as serum inflammatory marker biomarkers.

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“…Acupuncture is an effective therapeutic method, which has been widely practiced in China for more than 2,000 years. Several systematic reviews and meta-analyses have demonstrated that acupuncture can improve symptoms of CNS disorders, and its anti-inflammatory effects have long been proven (Chen et al, 2022b, He et al, 2022Lin C. J. et al, 2022;Zhou Z. et al, 2022). Exhilaratingly, PROKR2 neurons are indispensable for the anti-inflammatory effect of low-intensity electroacupuncture (EA) through the vagal-adrenal axis, which was once again confirmed by the article published in the authoritative journal NATURE last year (Liu et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Research progress on acupuncture treatment in central nervous system diseases based on NLRP3 inflammasome in animal models

et al. 2023

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Central nervous system (CNS) disorders exhibit complex neurophysiological and pathological mechanisms, which seriously affect the quality of life in patients. Acupuncture, widely accepted as complementary and alternative medicine, has been proven to exert significant therapeutic effects on CNS diseases. As a part of the innate immune system, NLRP3 inflammasome contributes to the pathogenesis of CNS diseases via regulating neuroinflammation. To further explore the mechanisms of acupuncture regulating NLRP3 inflammasome in CNS diseases, our study focused on the effects of acupuncture on neuroinflammation and the NLRP3 inflammasome in vascular dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, depression, and spinal cord injury. This study confirmed that the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome promotes the development of CNS diseases, and inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is a potential key target for the treatment of CNS diseases. In addition, it is concluded that acupuncture alleviates neuroinflammation by inhibiting the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway, thereby improving the progression of CNS diseases, which provides a theoretical basis for acupuncture to attenuate neuroinflammation and improve CNS diseases.

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Acupuncture-related treatments improve cognitive and physical functions in Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Cited by 11 publications

References 43 publications

Modulation of entorhinal cortex–hippocampus connectivity and recognition memory following electroacupuncture on 3×Tg-AD model: Evidence from multimodal MRI and electrophysiological recordings

Modulation of entorhinal cortex–hippocampus connectivity and recognition memory following electroacupuncture on 3×Tg-AD model: Evidence from multimodal MRI and electrophysiological recordings

Effects of Electroacupuncture on the Correlation between Serum and Central Immunity in AD Model Animals

Research progress on acupuncture treatment in central nervous system diseases based on NLRP3 inflammasome in animal models

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