Electroacupuncture in promoting neural repair after spinal cord injury: Inhibiting the Notch signaling pathway and regulating downstream proteins expression

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the serious central nervous system injuries and the incidence of SCI continues to increase. Previous studies have indicated that electroacupuncture (EA) is beneficial for promoting recovery after SCI. In the present study, we attempted to evaluate how EA can promote the neural repair in SCI model rats by observing changes in the Notch signaling pathway. Experimental rats were randomly divided into four groups. Each group had its own intervention period: 1 day, 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days, and five randomized subgroups: blank control (B) group, blank electroacupuncture (BE) group, sham operation (S) group, model control (M) group and EA group. Animals in the EA group and the BE group were treated with EA at Dazhui (GV14) and Mingmen (GV4) acupoints for 20 min. After the intervention period, the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) score was used to evaluate the neurological function. We found that BBB score increased in EA-treated groups. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to observe pathological changes in the injured spinal cord and the results showed that EA therapy could promote the repair of injured spinal cord tissue. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot methods were used to detect the expression of proteins Delta1, Presenilin1, Hes1, and Hes5 in the injured spinal cord. The results showed that the expression levels of Delta1, Presenilin1, Hes1, and Hes5 increased significantly after Xin Wang, Qiaoxia Wang, and Huiling Tian contributed equally to this study.

Mechanism Underlying Acupuncture Therapy in Spinal Cord Injury: A Narrative Overview of Preclinical Studies

“…The upregulation of exosomal miR-146b, NeuroD1, the activation of the Notch pathway, and the downregulation of the PTEN expression are associated with acupuncture-induced improvement of neurological injury after ischemic stroke ( Tao et al, 2014 ; Zhao et al, 2015 ; Sha et al, 2019 ; Zhang et al, 2020 ). In contrast, the potential signals of the acupuncture-induced NSC regulation in the SCI model include Wnt/β-catenin ( Zhang et al, 2017a ), ERK ( Xu et al, 2019 ), miR-449a ( Zhu et al, 2017 ), and Notch pathway ( Wang et al, 2021b ). Third, electroacupuncture reinforces the survival and synaptogenesis of transplanted NSC-derived neural network scaffolds as a neuronal relay bridging two severed ends of the injured spinal cord ( Jin et al, 2019 ).…”

Electroacupuncture-Regulated miR-34a-3p/PDCD6 Axis Promotes Post-Spinal Cord Injury Recovery in Both In Vitro and In Vivo Settings

“…EA stimulation was reported to regulate the function of SCs, which favors axonal recovery post-SCI [ 16 ]. Through regulating Notch signaling pathway, EA was found to promote the recovery following SCI in rats [ 9 ]. The effectiveness of EA in treating trauma has also been demonstrated [ 17 ], but its possible mechanism in SCI still needs to be revealed.…”

“…Acupuncture, a traditional Chinese medicine, has found a broad application in the treatment of various neurological diseases. As an improved variant of acupuncture approach, electroacupuncture (EA) had been reported to be efficacious in treating various SCI-related symptoms [8] [9][10][11][12][13]. Combined treatment of EA and curcumin improves the recovery of motor function and regulates oxidative stress in rats after traumatic SCI [14].…”

Comparative efficacy and safety of acupuncture and Western medicine for poststroke thalamic pain

“…This showed that acupuncture is already widely accepted in the international pain field. Acupuncture has also been successfully used for the treatment of central neuropathic pain, as studies have shown that acupuncture can improve the neurologic or functional recovery after spinal cord injury (Tan et al, 2021; Wang et al, 2021; Wong et al, 2003).…”