Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2017, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (7): 1159-1165.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.211197

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Long-term acupuncture treatment has a multi-targeting regulation on multiple brain regions in rats with Alzheimer’s disease: a positron emission tomography study

Yang-jia Lu1, 2, Xiao-wen Cai1, Gui-feng Zhang3, Yong Huang1, Chun-zhi Tang4, Bao-ci Shan5, Shao-yang Cui4, 6, Jun-qi Chen7, Shan-shan Qu1, Zheng Zhong1, Xin-sheng Lai4, Genevieve Zara Steiner8   

  1. 1 School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine of the Second Clinical School, Guangdong Medical College, Dongguan, Guangdong Province, China; 3 Zhaoqing Medical College, Zhaoqing, Guangdong Province, China; 4 Clinical Medical College of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Rehabilitation, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; 5 Key Laboratory of Nuclear Analytical Techniques, Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; 6 Shenzhen Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China; 7 Huarui Hospital of Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China; 8 National Institute of Complementary Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith NSW, Australia
  • Received:2017-05-24 Online:2017-07-15 Published:2017-07-15
  • Contact: Yong Huang, Ph.D. or Chun-zhi Tang, Ph.D., nanfanglihuang@163.com or jordan664@163.com.
  • Supported by:

    This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), No. 2006CB504505, 2012CB518504; the National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 90709027; the Student’s Platform for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program
    of Southern Medical University of China, No. 201512121165; the Doctoral Foundation of Guangdong Medical University of China, No. 2XB13058.

PDF

671

Abstract:

The acute effect of acupuncture on Alzheimer’s disease, i.e., on brain activation during treatment, has been reported. However, the effect of long-term acupuncture on brain activation in Alzheimer’s disease is unclear. Therefore, in this study, we performed long-term needling at Zusanli (ST36) or a sham point (1.5 mm lateral to ST36) in a rat Alzheimer’s disease model, for 30 minutes, once per day, for 30 days. The rats underwent 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scanning. Positron emission tomography images were processed with SPM2. The brain areas activated after needling at ST36 included the left hippocampus, the left orbital cortex, the left infralimbic cortex, the left olfactory cortex, the left cerebellum and the left pons. In the sham-point group, the activated regions were similar to those in the ST36 group. However, the ST36 group showed greater activation in the cerebellum and pons than the sham-point group. These findings suggest that long-term acupuncture treatment has targeted regulatory effects on multiple brain regions in rats with Alzheimer’s disease.

Key words: nerve regeneration, neurodegeneration, acupuncture;, Zusanli (ST36), Alzheimer’s disease, long-term treatment, positron emission tomography, rat, mechanism, targeting effect, compensation, multi-target regulation, neural regeneration