Modulation of functional activity and connectivity by acupuncture in patients with Alzheimer disease as measured by resting-state fMRI

Abstract

Acupuncture has been used in the therapy of Alzheimer disease (AD); however, its neural mechanisms are still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of acupuncture on the functional connectivity in AD by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Twenty-eight subjects (14 AD and 14 normal controls) participated in this study. The rs-fMRI data were acquired before and after acupuncture stimulation at the acupoints of Tai chong (Liv3) and Hegu (LI4). During the baseline resting state, by using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), we found a significantly decreased or increased ALFF in the AD patients relative to the controls. These regions were located in the right superior frontal gyrus (SFG), left postcentral gyrus, subgenual cingulate cortex (SCC), right middle cingulate cortex (MCC), right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), right hippocampus and the right inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). Then, we selected these brain regions as seeds to investigate whether regional activity and functional connectivity could be modulated by acupuncture in the AD patients. When compared to the pre-acupuncture stage, several of the above regions showed an increased or decreased ALFF after acupuncture in the AD patients. In addition, the functional connectivity between the hippocampus and the precentral gyrus showed enhancement after acupuncture in the AD patients. Finally, there were close correlations between the functional activity, connectivity and clinical performance in the AD patients. The current study confirmed that acupuncture at Tai chong (Liv3) and He gu (LI4) can modulate functional activity and connectivity of specific cognition-related regions in AD patients.

Distinct Spontaneous Brain Activity Patterns in Different Biologically-Defined Alzheimer’s Disease Cognitive Stage: A Preliminary Study

“…Notably, findings from several studies were contradictory. For example, some studies have found significantly decreased amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) in parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), superior temporal gyrus (STG) and postcentral gyrus in AD patients (Liu et al, 2014;Cha et al, 2015;Zheng et al, 2018), whereas some have reported increased ALFF in these regions (Wang et al, 2011). Inconsistent results could also be found in studies focus on patients with MCI (Wang et al, 2011;Xi et al, 2012) or amnestic MCI (aMCI;Han et al, 2011;Cai et al, 2017;Pan et al, 2017).…”

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

“…Studies have partially clarified the mechanisms by which acupuncture can prevent AD through anti-inflammatory (Ding et al, 2017), anti-oxidative (Sutalangka et al, 2013), and anti-apoptotic effects (Guo et al, 2015(Guo et al, , 2016. Moreover, acupuncture can modulate the functional activity and connectivity of specific cognition-related areas of the brain in AD patients (Wang et al, 2012Liang et al, 2014;Zheng et al, 2018). However, the effect of manual acupuncture (MA) on CBF in AD therapy and the specifics of its molecular mechanisms are still not well known.…”

The Effect of Acupuncture for ATP Activity in Brain Diseases: Protocol of a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Animal Experiments

“…Globally, it is becoming more and more popular as a complementary and alternative treatment for brain diseases. Some ndings have showed that it has a de nite therapeutic effect for brain diseases, such as stroke [17,18,19], AD [20,21,22], PD [23,24,25], depression [26,27] etc. For example, Qi Huang et al [28] conducted a meta-analysis and found that acupuncture could improve clinical e cacy rate, Mini-Mental State Examination score, Ability of Daily Living Scale score and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognition score in AD patients.…”