Progress of researches on mechanisms of acupuncture in treatment of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease, and acupuncture has shown potential advantages in the treatment. By analyzing the experimental researches on acupuncture therapy of PD over the past 10 years, the authors find that acupuncture can play a therapeutic role by regulating multiple targets such as basal ganglia neurotransmitter disorder, oxidative stress, abnormal protein folding, immune inflammatory response, apoptosis, neural stem cells and calcium homeostasis. Although the mechanism of acupuncture in the treatment of PD is widely studied, there is still a lack of systematic, in-depth and high-quality research, and the mechanism of acupuncture therapy has not reached a consensus. In the future, the potential mechanisms including mitochondrial dysfunction and intestinal flora should be further studied.