Acupuncture Rescues Cognitive Impairment and Upregulates Dopamine-β-Hydroxylase Expression in Chronic Cerebral Hypoperfusion Rats

Abstract

Alteration of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) contributes to cognitive function. Acupuncture has been shown to affect DA and NA in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) rats. However, the effect of acupuncture on DA-β-hydroxylase (DBH), the biosynthetic enzyme of NA, remains unknown. In CCH rats we established chronic hypoperfusion by bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (two-vessel occlusion, 2VO) and treated them with acupuncture. Acupuncture displayed beneficial effects on hippocampus-dependent memory impairments, including nonspatial and spatial memory. That is also reflected in hippocampus long-term-potentiation (LTP). Moreover, DBH expression in the hippocampus and DBH activity in cerebrospinal fluid were upregulated after acupuncture treatment. In conclusion, these in vivo findings suggest that acupuncture exerts a therapeutic effect on hippocampus-dependent memory and hippocampus LTP in CCH rats, which may be partially related to the modulation of DBH in the hippocampus.

Effects of Acupuncture on Behavioral Stereotypies and Brain Dopamine System in Mice as a Model of Tourette Syndrome

“…The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for TS has been confirmed by numerous clinical studies (Wu et al, 1996; Ma et al, 2006; Zhu et al, 2009; Tang et al, 2015; Yu et al, 2016; Lee, 2017), but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Previous studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can regulate the DA system (Bo et al, 2017; Lin et al, 2017; Kim et al, 2018; Xiao et al, 2018). DA plays an important role in the recovering effect of acupuncture on motor functions (Cabyoglu et al, 2006).…”

The Role of Acupuncture Improving Cognitive Deficits due to Alzheimer’s Disease or Vascular Diseases through Regulating Neuroplasticity

“…And converging studies supported a crucial role of LTD in some types of learning and memory and in situations where cognitive demands require a flexible response [ 59 ]. Many electrophysiological studies showed that acupuncture could apparently improve the recovery from cognitive deficits by promoting LTP and/or LTD [ 61 – 63 ] and preventing or restoring the impaired LTP [ 64 – 69 ] in AD or VCI rat models. In addition to LTP and LTD, EA could also ameliorate the synaptic transmission by raising the slope of excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) and the amplitude of population spikes (PS) in an AD mouse model [ 70 ].…”

Glucagon‐like peptide‐1 analog improves neuronal and behavioral impairment and promotes neuroprotection in a rat model of aluminum‐induced dementia

“…Cholinergic system in the brain, especially the basal forebrain projections to the hippocampus and cortex, is responsible for memory and learning (Cain, 1998) and is known to be affected in AD (Whitehouse et al., 1981). Noradrenaline (NA) is related to various cognitive and physiological processes, including learning and memory (Xiao et al., 2018; Zhu et al., 2018).…”