Acupuncture and Moxibustion Improves Learning-memory Ability of Alzheimer's Disease Rats Possibly by Up-regulating Serum Aβ Internalization Enzyme Contents / 针刺研究

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture and moxibustion (AM) on learning-memory ability and expression of amyloid beta (Aβ) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) of Alzheimer's disease (AD) rats, so as to explore its mechanism underlying improvement of AD. METHODS: Forty male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal, sham operation, model and AM groups (n＝10 in each). The AD model was established by bilateral hippocampal injection of Aβ1-42(5 µL). The AM was applied at "Baihui" (GV 20) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) for 15 min, once daily for 12 times. Morris water maze tests were used to assess the rats' learning-memory ability. The levels of serum Aβ1-42 and Aβ internalizing enzymes including transthyretin (TTR), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), alpha 2 macroglobulin (α 2M) and apolipoprotein E (ApoE) were detected by ELISA. The expression of Aβ1-42 in the hippocampal DG was detected by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Compared with the sham operation group, the average escape latency of location navigation test was significantly prolonged in the first 5 days and the last 3 days (P0.05). CONCLUSION: AM can improve the learning-memory ability of AD rats, which may be related to its effects in up-regulating the contents of serum Aβ internalizing enzymes and promoting the clearance of hippocampal Aβ. It suggests a protective role of AM on hippocampal neurons.