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Effects of Electroacupuncture on Metabolic Changes in Motor Cortex and Striatum of 6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Parkinsonian Rats

  • Acupuncture Research
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Abstract

Objective

To explore the possible underlying mechanism by investigating the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment on the primary motor cortex and striatum in a unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) induced rat Parkinson’s disease (PD) model.

Methods

Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=16), model group (n=14), and EA group (n=14). EA stimulation at Dazhui (GV 14) and Baihui (GV20) was applied to PD rats in the EA group for 4 weeks. Behavioral tests were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of EA treatment. Metabolites were detected by 7.0 T proton nuclear magnetic resonance.

Results

Following 4 weeks of EA treatment in PD model rats, the abnormal behavioral impairment induced by 6-OHDA was alleviated. In monitoring changes in metabolic activity, ratios of myoinositol/creatine (Cr) and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA)/Cr in the primary motor cortex were significantly lower at the injected side than the non-injected side in PD rats (P=0.024 and 0.020). The ratios of glutamate + glutamine (Glx)/Cr and NAA/Cr in the striatum were higher and lower, respectively, at the injected side than the non-injected side (P=0.046 and 0.008). EA treatment restored the balance of metabolic activity in the primary motor cortex and striatum. In addition, the taurine/Cr ratio and Glx/Cr ratio were elevated in the striatum of PD model rats compared to sham-lesioned rats (P=0.026 and 0.000). EA treatment alleviated the excessive glutamatergic transmission by down-regulating the striatal Glx/Cr ratio (P=0.001). The Glx/Cr ratio was negatively correlated with floor plane spontaneous locomotion in PD rats (P=0.027 and P=0.0007).

Conclusions

EA treatment is able to normalize the metabolic balance in the primary motor cortex and striatum of PD rats, which may contribute to its therapeutic effect on motor deficits. The striatal Glx/Cr ratio may serve as a potential indicator of PD and a therapeutic target of EA treatment.

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank Dr. WANG Qiang (University of Missouri Kansas City) for his critical readings of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurobiology and Physiology, Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Beijing Key Laboratory for Parkinson’s Disease, Capital Medical University; Beijing Institute for Brain Disorders, Beijing, 100069, China

    Min Li, Ke Wang, Wen-ting Su, Jun Jia & Xiao-min Wang

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  1. Min Li
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  2. Ke Wang
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  3. Wen-ting Su
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  4. Jun Jia
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  5. Xiao-min Wang
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Contributions

Li M and Wang XM designed the study. Li M and Su WT performed the experiments. Li M and Wang K wrote the paper. Jia J and Wang XM reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiao-min Wang.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81072858, 81473770, and 81030062), Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission (No. Z161100002616007)

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Li, M., Wang, K., Su, Wt. et al. Effects of Electroacupuncture on Metabolic Changes in Motor Cortex and Striatum of 6-Hydroxydopamine-Induced Parkinsonian Rats. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 26, 701–708 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-017-2975-x

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