Electroacupuncture improves cognitive impairment after subarachnoid hemorrhage in rats through the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

IF 2.4 3区医学 Q2 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Acupuncture in Medicine Pub Date : 2025-02-01 Epub Date: 2025-01-31 DOI:10.1177/09645284251314187

Feng Zhou, Zhenzhi Wang, Kang Xiong, Xiaoman Fu, Hongru Jiang, Meiling Zhang, Qiang Wang, Yuan Wang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective: Cognitive impairment (CI) is highly prevalent in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway plays a critical role in neuronal survival in a variety of central nervous system injuries. This study aimed to determine whether electroacupuncture (EA) at Yintang and LI20 ameliorates SAH-CI in a rat model and to examine whether it modulates the PI3K/AKT pathway by administering a PI3K inhibitor (LY294002) versus dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) vehicle.

Methods: Notably, 129 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into Blank, Sham, SAH and SAH + EA groups (Experiment 1, n = 54) and SAH, SAH + EA, SAH + LY294002, SAH + EA + LY294002 and SAH + EA + DMSO groups (Experiment 2, n = 75). Garcia scoring was used to evaluate neurological function. The moisture content of the rat brain was determined by dry‒wet method. The Morris water maze was used to assess learning and memory function. Pathological changes in neurons in the hippocampus were observed via hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) staining. The number of surviving neurons and the percentage of apoptotic cells in the hippocampus were detected via Nissl and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining. The expression of PI3K/AKT pathway-related proteins was detected via Western blotting.

Results: The results indicated that EA intervention after SAH reduced brain water content, enhanced Garcia scores, improved neurological function and behavioral markers of CI, and increased the number of surviving neurons in the hippocampus. Moreover, EA significantly increased the expression of AKT, phosphorylated (p)-AKT, PI3K, p-PI3K, glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)-3β, p-GSK-3β and B cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 proteins, and decreased the expression of Bcl-2-associated X (Bax) and caspase-3. In addition, the effects of EA were abolished by LY294002.

Conclusion: EA appeared to improve CI in a rat model of SAH through the activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway.

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电针通过PI3K/AKT信号通路改善大鼠蛛网膜下腔出血后认知障碍。

目的：认知障碍（CI）在蛛网膜下腔出血（SAH）患者中非常普遍。磷脂酰肌醇3-激酶(PI3K)/AKT通路在多种中枢神经系统损伤的神经元存活中起关键作用。本研究旨在确定电针（EA）在银堂和LI20处是否能改善大鼠模型中的SAH-CI，并通过给药PI3K抑制剂（LY294002）和二甲基亚砜（DMSO）对照，研究电针是否能调节PI3K/AKT通路。方法：将129只雄性Sprague-Dawley大鼠分为Blank、Sham、SAH、SAH + EA组（实验1，n = 54）和SAH、SAH + EA、SAH + LY294002、SAH + EA + LY294002、SAH + EA + DMSO组（实验2，n = 75）。加西亚评分用于评估神经功能。采用干湿法测定大鼠脑含水量。Morris水迷宫法评估学习记忆功能。苏木精-伊红（H&E）染色观察海马神经元的病理变化。通过Nissl和末端脱氧核苷酸转移酶介导的dUTP镍端标记（TUNEL）染色检测海马中存活神经元数量和凋亡细胞百分比。Western blotting检测PI3K/AKT通路相关蛋白的表达。结果：结果表明，SAH后EA干预降低了脑含水量，提高了Garcia评分，改善了神经功能和CI行为指标，增加了海马存活神经元数量。此外，EA显著增加了AKT、磷酸化(p)-AKT、PI3K、p-PI3K、糖原合成酶激酶(GSK)-3β、p-GSK-3β和B细胞淋巴瘤(Bcl)-2蛋白的表达，降低了Bcl-2相关X （Bax）和caspase-3的表达。此外，LY294002可以消除EA的作用。结论：EA似乎通过激活PI3K/AKT通路来改善SAH大鼠模型的CI。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Acupuncture in Medicine INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE-

CiteScore

4.70

自引率

4.00%

发文量

审稿时长

6-12 weeks

期刊介绍： Acupuncture in Medicine aims to promote the scientific understanding of acupuncture and related treatments by publishing scientific investigations of their effectiveness and modes of action as well as articles on their use in health services and clinical practice. Acupuncture in Medicine uses the Western understanding of neurophysiology and anatomy to interpret the effects of acupuncture.