Neuroscience Research Institute, Peking University, Key Laboratory for Neuroscience of the Ministry of Education, Beijing, PR China.
PLoS One. 2013 May 30;8(5):e64403. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064403. Print 2013.
Bradykinesia is one of the major clinical symptoms of Parkinson`s disease (PD) for which treatment is sought. In most mouse models of PD, decreased locomotor activity can be reflected in an open field behavioral test. Therefore the open field test provides a useful tool to study the clinic symptoms of PD patients. Our previous work demonstrated that 100 Hz electro-acupuncture (EA) stimulation at ZUSANLI and SANYINJIAO protected the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system of C57BL/6 mice from MPTP toxicity, indicating that acupuncture might be an effective therapy for PD sufferers. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 100 Hz EA stimulation on the spontaneous locomotor activity in MPTP injured mice. Here we found that, in MPTP treated mice, the total movements significantly decreased and the movement time, velocity and distance dramatically increased, although the dopaminergic nigrostriatal system was devastated, revealed by immunohistochemistry and HPLC-ECD. After 12 sessions of 100 Hz EA stimulation, the total movements elevated and the movement time, velocity and distance decreased, in MPTP mice. 100 Hz EA increased striatal dopamine content in MPTP mice by 35.9%, but decreased its striatal dopamine turnover. We assumed that the injury of other regions in the brain, such as the A11 group in diencephalon, might be involved in the hypermotility in MPTP mice. The effects of 100 Hz EA on spontaneous locomotor activity in MPTP mice might not relate with the striatal dopamine, but with its neuroprotective and regulatory effects on motor circuits in the brain. Our study suggests that EA might be a promising treatment for neurological disorders including PD.
运动徐缓是帕金森病（PD）的主要临床症状之一，也是寻求治疗的主要原因。在大多数 PD 小鼠模型中，运动活性降低可在旷场行为测试中反映出来。因此，旷场测试为研究 PD 患者的临床症状提供了有用的工具。我们之前的工作表明，Zusanli 和 Sanyinjiao 穴位的 100Hz 电针（EA）刺激可保护 C57BL/6 小鼠的多巴胺能黑质纹状体系统免受 MPTP 毒性的侵害，这表明针刺可能是 PD 患者的有效治疗方法。在本研究中，我们研究了 100Hz EA 刺激对 MPTP 损伤小鼠自发运动活性的影响。结果发现，在 MPTP 处理的小鼠中，总运动明显减少，运动时间、速度和距离显著增加，尽管多巴胺能黑质纹状体系统被破坏，这通过免疫组织化学和 HPLC-ECD 显示。在 100Hz EA 刺激 12 次后，MPTP 小鼠的总运动增加，运动时间、速度和距离减少。100Hz EA 使 MPTP 小鼠纹状体多巴胺含量增加 35.9%，但降低了其纹状体多巴胺周转率。我们假设大脑其他区域（如间脑 A11 组）的损伤可能与 MPTP 小鼠的多动有关。100Hz EA 对 MPTP 小鼠自发运动活性的影响可能与纹状体多巴胺无关，而与大脑运动回路的神经保护和调节作用有关。我们的研究表明，EA 可能是包括 PD 在内的神经退行性疾病的一种有前途的治疗方法。
