Effects of infrasound with electroacupuncture on learning, memory and the CaMKⅡ-Tau protein signaling pathway / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the effect of electroacupuncture at the Baihui acupoint on learning and memory ability and on the calmodulin kinase (CaMK)Ⅱ-Tau protein signal pathway in rats exposed to infrasound, and to explore its mechanism.Methods:Forty-eight Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a blank group, an infrasound group, a Baihui group and a non-acupoint group, each of 12. The rats in the blank group were placed in an infrasound chamber without infrasound for 2 hours daily. Those in the other 3 groups were exposed to 8Hz, 130dB infrasound in the chamber for 2 hours daily for 7 consecutive days. The rats in the Baihui and non-acupoint groups were given electroacupuncture within 2 hours after the infrasound exposure at the Baihui acupoint or elsewhere respectively. The rats in the blank and infrasound groups were given the same grasping and fixation, but no electroacupuncture. On the 6th and 7th day of intervention, Morris water maze positioning and navigation experiments and spatial exploration experiments were used to quantify the rats′ spatial learning and memory ability. Nissl staining was used to observe any changes in the morphology of the neurons in the hippocampus of 6 rats in each group. The expression of phosphorylated calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (P-CaMKⅡ) and phosphorylated Tau protein (P-Tau) in the hippocampus was also documented using western blotting.Results:After 6 or 7 days the average escape latency of the rats in the infrasound group was significantly longer than the blank group′s average. Platform quadrant time and distance ratios and the number of times crossing the platform area were also significantly lower. Compared with the infrasound group, the average escape latency of the Baihui group was significantly shorter, with the platform quadrant time and distance ratios and the number of times crossing the platform area significantly higher. After 7 days, the damage to hippocampal neurons among the rats in the infrasound group was significantly aggravated and the number of neurons was reduced significantly compared with the blank group. Compared with the infrasound group, significantly fewer neurons in the hippocampus were damaged in the Baihui group and the number of neurons had increased significantly. After the intervention the levels of P-CaMKⅡand P-Tau protein in the infrasound group had increased significantly compared with the blank group, but those levels in the Baihui group were significantly lower, on average.Conclusion:Electroacupuncture at the Baihui acupoint can improve the learning and memory ability of rats exposed to infrasound, and has some protective effect against infrasound brain damage. That may be due to its inhibiting Tau protein hyperphosphorylation in the hippocampus by reducing CaMKⅡ activity.