Brain functional changes following electroacupuncture in a mouse model of comorbid pain and depression: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study

IF 4.2 2区医学 Q1 INTEGRATIVE & COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

Journal of Integrative Medicine-Jim Pub Date : 2025-03-01 DOI:10.1016/j.joim.2025.01.006

Xuan Yin , Xiao-ling Zeng , Jing-jing Lin , Wen-qing Xu , Kai-yu Cui , Xiu-tian Guo , Wei Li , Shi-fen Xu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

Comorbid pain and depression are common but remain difficult to treat. Electroacupuncture (EA) can effectively improve symptoms of depression and relieve pain, but its neural mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to detect cerebral changes after initiating a mouse pain model via constriction of the infraorbital nerve (CION) and then treating these animals with EA.

Methods

Forty male C57BL/6J mice were divided into 4 groups: control, CION model, EA, and sham acupuncture (without needle insertion). EA was performed on the acupoints Baihui (GV20) and Zusanli (ST36) for 20 min, once a day for 10 consecutive days. The mechanical withdrawal threshold was tested 3 days after the surgery and every 3 days after the intervention. The depressive behavior was evaluated with the tail suspension test, open-field test, elevated plus maze (EPM), sucrose preference test, and marble burying test. The rs-fMRI was used to detect the cerebral changes of the functional connectivity (FC) in the mice following EA treatment.

Results

Compared with the CION group, the mechanical withdrawal threshold increased in the EA group at the end of the intervention (P < 0.05); the immobility time in tail suspension test decreased (P < 0.05); and the times of the open arm entry and the open arm time in the EPM increased (both P < 0.001). There was no difference in the sucrose preference or marble burying tests (both P > 0.05). The fMRI results showed that EA treatment downregulated the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and regional homogeneity values, while these indicators were elevated in brain regions including the amygdala, hippocampus and cerebral cortex in the CION model for comorbid pain and depression. Selecting the amygdala as the seed region, we found that the FC was higher in the CION group than in the control group. Meanwhile, EA treatment was able to decrease the FC between the amygdala and other brain regions including the caudate putamen, thalamus, and parts of the cerebral cortex.

Conclusion

EA can downregulate the abnormal activation of neurons in the amygdala and improve its FC with other brain regions, thus exerting analgesic and antidepressant effects.

Please cite this article as: Yin X, Zeng XL, Lin JJ, Xu WQ, Cui KY, Guo XT, Li W, Xu SF. Brain functional changes following electroacupuncture in a mouse model of comorbid pain and depression: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(2): 159–168.

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电针治疗合并疼痛和抑郁的小鼠模型的脑功能变化：静息态功能磁共振成像研究

目的：合并症疼痛和抑郁是常见的，但仍然难以治疗。电针（EA）可以有效改善抑郁症状，缓解疼痛，但其神经机制尚不清楚。为此，我们采用静息状态功能磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）检测经眶下神经收缩（CION）建立小鼠疼痛模型后，经EA处理后的大脑变化。方法：雄性C57BL/6J小鼠40只，分为对照组、CION模型组、EA组和假针刺组（不扎针）。在百会穴（GV20）和足三里穴（ST36）上进行EA穴20 min，每天1次，连续10天。术后3天检测机械戒断阈值，干预后每3天检测一次。采用悬尾试验、露天试验、高架迷宫（EPM）、蔗糖偏好试验和埋弹珠试验评价抑郁行为。采用磁共振成像（rs-fMRI）检测EA治疗后小鼠脑功能连接（FC）的变化。结果：与CION组相比，EA组在干预结束时机械戒断阈值升高（P < 0.05）。fMRI结果显示，EA治疗降低了低频波动幅度和区域均匀性值，而在CION模型中，杏仁核、海马和大脑皮层等脑区这些指标在共病疼痛和抑郁中升高。选择杏仁核作为种子区，我们发现CION组的FC高于对照组。同时，EA治疗能够降低杏仁核与其他大脑区域（包括尾状壳核、丘脑和部分大脑皮层）之间的FC。结论：EA可下调杏仁核神经元的异常活化，改善其与其他脑区之间的FC，从而发挥镇痛和抗抑郁作用。本文署名：尹鑫、曾晓丽、林俊杰、徐文wq、崔凯、郭晓涛、李伟、徐顺生。电针治疗并发疼痛和抑郁小鼠模型后脑功能改变：静息状态功能磁共振成像研究集成医学[J]；打印前Epub。

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来源期刊

Journal of Integrative Medicine-Jim Medicine-Complementary and Alternative Medicine

CiteScore

9.20

自引率

4.20%

发文量

3319

期刊介绍： The predecessor of JIM is the Journal of Chinese Integrative Medicine (Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao). With this new, English-language publication, we are committed to make JIM an international platform for publishing high-quality papers on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and an open forum in which the different professions and international scholarly communities can exchange views, share research and their clinical experience, discuss CAM education, and confer about issues and problems in our various disciplines and in CAM as a whole in order to promote integrative medicine. JIM is indexed/abstracted in: MEDLINE/PubMed, ScienceDirect, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Embase, Chemical Abstracts (CA), CAB Abstracts, EBSCO, WPRIM, JST China, Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD), and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). JIM Editorial Office uses ThomsonReuters ScholarOne Manuscripts as submitting and review system (submission link: http://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/jcim-en). JIM is published bimonthly. Manuscripts submitted to JIM should be written in English. Article types include but are not limited to randomized controlled and pragmatic trials, translational and patient-centered effectiveness outcome studies, case series and reports, clinical trial protocols, preclinical and basic science studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, papers on methodology and CAM history or education, conference proceedings, editorials, commentaries, short communications, book reviews, and letters to the editor. Our purpose is to publish a prestigious international journal for studies in integrative medicine. To achieve this aim, we seek to publish high-quality papers on any aspects of integrative medicine, such as acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy, nutrition, chiropractic, mind-body medicine, taichi, qigong, meditation, and any other modalities of CAM; our commitment to international scope ensures that research and progress from all regions of the world are widely covered. These ensure that articles published in JIM have the maximum exposure to the international scholarly community. JIM can help its authors let their papers reach the widest possible range of readers, and let all those who share an interest in their research field be concerned with their study.