Electroacupuncture Suppressed Neuronal Apoptosis and Improved Cognitive Impairment in the AD Model Rats Possibly via Downregulation of Notch Signaling Pathway.

Hai-Dong Guo,Shui-Jin Shao,Jing Zhu,Jin-Xin Tian,Guo-Hong Cui,Kui Sun,Li Li

doi:10.1155/2015/393569

Abstract

Acupuncture is a potential strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the possible mechanisms worth to be explored. In this study, we proposed and tested the hypothesis that whether Notch signaling pathway is involved in the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment. Rats that received EA treatment on the acupoints of Baihui (Du 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) had shorter latency and remained in the original platform quadrant longer and crossed the former platform contained quadrant more frequently compared to the Aβ injection rats without EA treatment. EA obviously alleviated the cell apoptosis resulted by Aβ infusion in hippocampus CA1 regions through upregulating the expression of Bcl-2 and downregulating the expression of Bax. EA could further obviously promote the expression of synapsin-1 and synaptophysin in hippocampus. Aβ injection significantly increased the expression of Notch1, Jag1, and Hes1 mRNA, while EA treatment downregulated the level of Notch1 and Hes1 mRNA in hippocampus, but not Jag1 mRNA. Our data suggested that EA treatment improved learning and memory function in the AD rat model partially through downregulating Notch signaling pathway.

Highlights

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, is a pernicious neurodegenerative disorder associated with cognitive and behavioral dysfunction
In the place navigation trials, representative navigation paths at day 5 of training provided evidence that spatial learning acquisition was dramatically impaired in AD model rats but not in EA treatment ones (Figure 1(a))
Rats received EA treatment crossed the former quadrant containing the platform more frequently and remained in the original platform quadrant longer compared to rats of model group and sham-EA group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), suggesting impaired spatial memory recall after EA treatment (Figures 1(d) and 1(e))

Summary

Introduction

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia in the elderly, is a pernicious neurodegenerative disorder associated with cognitive and behavioral dysfunction. AD is characterized by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles and insoluble β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques that are associated with inflammation response and neuronal and synaptic loss [1]. Experimental studies have shown that acupuncture provides neuroprotection with antioxidation and antiapoptosis effects through stimulating the specific acupoints [7,8,9]. Acupuncture could enhance the hippocampal connectivity [10], activate certain cognitiverelated regions in AD patients [11,12,13], and has potential therapeutic effects on improving cognitive function and selfmanaging ability of vascular dementia [14]. Electrical stimulation of acupuncture points, or electroacupuncture (EA), manipulated by passing electric currents through acupuncture needles, is widely used and allows a more objective control

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