Behavioral Changes and Hippocampus Glucose Metabolism in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice via Electro-acupuncture at Governor Vessel Acupoints

Abstract

Objective: Investigating the effects of electro-acupuncture (EA) treatment on mice with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), using Morris water maze (MWM) for spatial learning and memory behavior tests combined with micro-positron emission tomography (micro-PET) imaging for glucose metabolism in hippocampus.Methods: Thirty seven-month-old APP/PS1 mice were randomly divided into AD Model group (AD group), medicine group (M group) and EA group, C57BL/6 mice were used for Normal control group (N group), n = 10 in each group. Mice in M group received donepezil intervention by gavage with dose at 0.92 mg/kg. EA was applied at Baihui (GV20) and Yintang (GV29) acupoints for 20 min then pricked at Shuigou (GV26) acupoint, while mice in N, M and AD groups were received restriction for 20 min, with all treatment administrated once a day for 15 consecutive days. After the treatment, MWM was performed to observe behavioral changes in mice, then hippocampus glucose metabolism level was tested by micro-PET imaging.Results: Compared with that of AD group, the escape latency of M and EA groups declined significantly (P < 0.01), while the proportion of the platform quadrant swimming distance in total swimming distance showed an obvious increase (P < 0.01), and EA group occupied a higher percentage than that in M group. The micro-PET imaging showed that mice in AD group performed a lower glucose metabolic rate in hippocampus compared with N group (P < 0.01). Both M and EA groups presented a significant higher injected dose compared with AD group (P < 0.01), and the uptake rate of EA group was higher than M group.Conclusion: Both donepezil and EA have therapeutic effects on AD mice. To a certain extent, EA shows a better efficacy in treatment of AD by improving the spatial learning and memory ability, while also enhancing glucose metabolism in hippocampus.

Manual Acupuncture Suppresses the Expression of Proinflammatory Proteins Associated with the NLRP3 Inflammasome in the Hippocampus of SAMP8 Mice

“…Each needle was rotated bidirectionally within 90° at a speed of 180°/s. The selection of the acupoints was based on findings from our previous studies [ 23 , 24 ]. For the M group, donepezil hydrochloride tablets (Eisai China Inc., H20050978) were crushed and dissolved in distilled water and were delivered to mice by oral gavage at a dose of 0.65 μ g/g [ 25 ].…”

Benign Regulation of the Astrocytic Phospholipase A2-Arachidonic Acid Pathway: The Underlying Mechanism of the Beneficial Effects of Manual Acupuncture on CBF

“…The selection of the acupoints was based on findings from our previous studies; namely, the therapeutic principle of dredging DU meridian and lighting mind (Jiang et al, 2015(Jiang et al, , 2016(Jiang et al, , 2018Cao et al, 2017;Ding et al, 2019). According to the traditional meridian theory, the DU meridian connects to the brain and is closely associated with all mental activities.…”

Electro-acupuncture Alleviates METH Withdrawal-induced Spatial Memory Deficits by Restoring Astrocyte-drived Glutamate Uptake in dCA1

“…The acupoints of GV29 and GV20 are considered to be the optimized acupoint modules for mental illness 17 , but the therapeutic mechanism remains unclear. EA at the acupoints of GV29 and GV20 show a better efficacy in improving the spatial learning and memory ability in patients of Alzheimer's disease 33 .…”