Effects of Acupuncture at Ht7 on Glucose Metabolism in a Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease: An ¹⁸F-FDG-PET study

Abstract

ObjectiveTo explore the effects of acupuncture at HT7 on different cerebral regions in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) with the application of 18F-2-fluoro-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET).MethodsSixty Wistar rats were included after undergoing a Y-maze electric sensitivity test. Ten rats were used as a healthy control group. The remaining 50 rats were injected stereotaxically with ibotenic acid into the right nucleus basalis magnocellularis and injected intraperitoneally with D-galactose. AD was successfully modelled in 36 rats, which were randomly divided into three groups (n=12 each): the AD group, which remained untreated; the AD+HT7 group, which received 20 sessions of acupuncture at HT7 over 1 month; and the AD+Sham group, which received acupuncture at a distant non-acupuncture point. Total reaction time (TRT) was measured by Y-maze and 18F-FDG-PET scans were conducted on day 1 and 30. PET images were processed with Statistical Parametric Mapping 8.0.ResultsPre-treatment, TRT was greater in all AD groups versus controls (mean±SD 24.10±2.48 vs 41.34±5.00 s). Post-treatment, TRT was shortened in AD+HT7 versus AD+Sham and AD groups (p<0.0001, two-way analysis of variance). Glucose metabolic activity in the hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, frontal lobe, and temporal lobe was decreased in AD rats compared with healthy controls and relatively elevated after HT7 acupuncture. Compared with sham acupuncture, HT7 needling had a greater positive influence on brain glucose metabolism.ConclusionsNeedling at HT7 can improve memory ability and cerebral glucose metabolic activity of the hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, and frontal/temporal lobes in an AD rat model.

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

“…Electro-acupuncture (EA), combining traditional acupuncture with modern electrotherapy, is a promising therapy that has been widely used in clinical practice, especially exerting beneficial effects in CNS diseases such as depression, spinal cord injury (SCI), stroke and AD (Guo et al, 2014; Mo et al, 2014; Deng et al, 2016; Lai et al, 2016). The mechanism of AD mainly lies in two aspects of deficiency in origin and enrichment in symptom in accordance with the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory.…”

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

“…fMRI studies have shown that acupuncture can enhance hippocampal connectivity [ 3 ], modulate default mode network activity [ 4 ], and activate certain cognitive-related regions in AD patients [ 5 ]. The positive effect of acupuncture on blood perfusion and glycol metabolism in certain brain areas in a rat model of AD has also been certified by PET studies [ 6 , 7 ]. Furthermore, enhancing antioxidation in the hippocampus [ 8 ], reversing the upregulation of astrocytic NDRG2 [ 9 ], improving mitochondrial biogenesis and energy metabolism [ 10 ], and modulating the Wnt signal transduction pathway [ 11 ] have been confirmed as mechanisms by which acupuncture exerts its therapeutic effects during the treatment of AD.…”

Effects of Acupuncture on Alzheimer’s Disease in Animal‐Based Research

“…Acupuncture stimulation at HT7 (Sinmun) has been clinically used to treat cognitive impairment and sleep disturbances ( Figure 1 ) [ 25 , 31 ] and is considered a useful therapy for memory impairment. HT7 stimulation in a rat model of AD generated by D-galactose injection produced improvements in cognitive function and increased cortical and hippocampal glucose metabolism compared to that in control AD rats ( Table 1 ) [ 32 ]. A shorter total reaction time in the Y maze test was observed in HT7-treated AD rats than in nontreated AD rats [ 32 ].…”