Abstract
Acupuncture is clinically used to treat various diseases and exerts positive local and systemic effects in several nervous system diseases. Advanced molecular and clinical studies have continually attempted to decipher the mechanisms underlying these effects of acupuncture. While a growing understanding of the pathophysiology underlying several nervous system diseases shows it to be related to inflammation and impair cell regeneration after ischemic events, the relationship between the therapeutic mechanism of acupuncture and the p38 MAPK signal pathway has yet to be elucidated. This review discusses the latest advancements in the identification of the effect of acupuncture on the p38 signaling pathway in several nervous system diseases. We electronically searched databases including PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from their inception to April 2020, using the following keywords alone or in various combinations: “acupuncture”, “p38 MAPK pathway”, “signaling”, “stress response”, “inflammation”, “immune”, “pain”, “analgesic”, “cerebral ischemic injury”, “epilepsy”, “Alzheimer’s disease”, “Parkinson’s disease”, “dementia”, “degenerative”, and “homeostasis”. Manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture confer positive therapeutic effects by regulating proinflammatory cytokines, ion channels, scaffold proteins, and transcription factors including TRPV1/4, Nav, BDNF, and NADMR1; consequently, p38 regulates various phenomena including cell communication, remodeling, regeneration, and gene expression. In this review article, we found the most common acupoints for the relief of nervous system disorders including GV20, GV14, ST36, ST37, and LI4. Acupuncture exhibits dual regulatory functions of activating or inhibiting different p38 MAPK pathways, contributing to an overall improvement of clinical symptoms and function in several nervous system diseases.
Highlights
Acupuncture is a form of therapy that has been practiced for more than 3000 years in Asia [1,2]
Behavioral responses in the paw and TRPV1/4 overexpression in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons
Behavioral responses in the paw; Nav and TRPV1 overexpression in Behavioral responses in the paw and the expression of Nav, glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (Iba-1), S100 calcium-binding protein B (S100B), receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE), and TRPV1 in DRG neurons
Summary
Acupuncture is a form of therapy that has been practiced for more than 3000 years in Asia [1,2]. 3. MAPK Substrates, Signaling Pathways, and Functions the cytoplasmic protein stathmin [110,111], which is a crucial regulator of microtubule dynamics and the cell cycle, bybpeernoNrmeipnooetrmitendegm. -5Tahned CfoLu10r0/pM3K8P-i1saolfsoo rms and the substrates arbeinsdhtoowp3n8αinanFdipg3u8βre, b3u.t not to p38γ or p38δ [115] (Figures 2 and 3) These four p38 MAPKs are encoded by different genes and display different histotypic expression patterns, with p38α being ubiquitously expressed at significant levels in most cell types, whereas the others potentially display more histotypic expression patterns. The osmotic shock-induced phosphorylation of the stress-activated protein 97 (alternatively termed synapse-associated protein 97, SAP97; known as discs large homolog 1 scaffold protein, hDLG1) is usually mediated by p38γ; in the absence of this kinase, other p38 MAPKs can perform this function. A comparison of the dynamics of PKA and p38 revealed similarities in their dynamic properties
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