Electroacupuncture Alleviates Ischemic Brain Injury by Inhibiting the miR-223/NLRP3 Pathway

Abstract

Background Electroacupuncture (EA) has been commonly used to treat stroke in China. However, the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. The present study investigated the neuroprotective effects of EA in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats and elucidated the possible anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Material/Methods In this study, modified neurological severity scoring (mNSS) was used to assess neurological deficits, and TTC staining and brain water content were measured to evaluate the degree of brain damage. HE staining, Nissl staining, and TUNEL staining were employed to evaluate apoptotic neuronal death. Molecular biological methods were used to measure the levels of miR-233, NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18 in the peri-infarct cortex. Results Our results showed that EA treatment significantly decreased the neurological deficit score and infarct volume of MCAO rats. The level of miR-223 was increased, while the levels of NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-1β, and IL-18 were decreased in the peri-infarct cortex of EA-treated MCAO rats. However, the neuroprotective effect of EA was partially blocked by antagomir-223. Conclusions These data suggest that EA treatment can alleviate neuroinflammation by inhibiting the miR-223/NLRP3 pathway, thus playing a neuroprotective role in MCAO in rats.

Inhibition of NLRP3 Inflammasome: A Prospective Target for the Treatment of Ischemic Stroke

“…Sha et al (2019) indicated that EA remarkably reduced the neurological dysfunction and infarct volume, increased level of miR-223 and attenuated expressions of NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-18, and IL-1β. However, these beneficial effects of EA could be partially reversed by antagomiR-223, suggesting that the therapeutic effects of EA are associated with the suppression of the miR-223/NLRP3 pathway (Sha et al, 2019). In a word, EA could decrease the inflammation, infarct volume, and neurological dysfunction through suppressing the expression level of NLRP3 inflammasome mediated by 7nAChR and miR-223 in ischemic stroke.…”

“…The α-BGT, a 7nAChR antagonist, was able to reverse the EA induced suppressive effects on NLRP3 inflammasome and break the balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory factors, suggesting that EA has neuroprotective effects on cerebral ischemic rats by regulating 7nAChR-mediated NLRP3 inflammasome (Jiang et al, 2019). Sha et al (2019) indicated that EA remarkably reduced the neurological dysfunction and infarct volume, increased level of miR-223 and attenuated expressions of NLRP3, caspase-1, IL-18, and IL-1β. However, these beneficial effects of EA could be partially reversed by antagomiR-223, suggesting that the therapeutic effects of EA are associated with the suppression of the miR-223/NLRP3 pathway (Sha et al, 2019).…”

Protectin DX restores Treg/Th17 cell balance in rheumatoid arthritis by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome via miR-20a

“…Serhan proposed that SPMs might also regulate microRNA in novel resolution circuits in inflammation 23 . Moreover, Neudecker’s and Zhang’s teams simultaneously found that miR-233 repressed NLRP3 inflammasome to regulate the innate immune responses 24 , 25 . Additionally, Li XF et al reported that miR-20a negatively regulated expression of NLRP3-inflammasome by targeting thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) in adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) 26 .…”

The Effects of Electroacupuncture in a Rat Model of Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Following Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion Involves MicroRNA-223 and the PTEN Signaling Pathway

“…The effect of EA is primarily determined by the acupoint selection and frequency of stimulation [30]. Previous studies have shown that the stimulation of acupoints Waiguan (TE5) and Zusanli (ST36) had significant effects in the model of MCAO [31,32]. Previous studies have shown that the subventricular zone (SVZ) and hippocampus were regions of the brain involved in the production of neural stem cells (NSCs) [33,34].…”