Liu Jing, Du Yan-Jun, Zhou Qing-Lian, Sun Guo-Jie
Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Wuhan City Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430000, China.
College of Acupuncture-moxibustion and Orthopaedics-traumatology, Hubei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430061.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2019 Feb 25;44(2):79-84. doi: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.180456.
To investigate the effect of acupuncture plus moxibustion on learning-memory ability and expression of hippocampal Janus kinase-2 (JAK2)/signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3)/suppressors of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3) signaling in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) rats, so as to reveal their mechanisms underlying improvement of AD.
A total of 60 SD rats were randomly divided into four groups：normal control, sham-operation, model and acupuncture-moxibustion (Acu-moxi, ＝15 in each group) groups. The AD model was established by microinjection of β-amyloid 1-42(Aβ1-42，5 µL)into the bilateral hippocampus. Seven days after modeling, Acu-moxi intervention was given. After insertion of acupuncture needles into "Baihui" (GV20) and bilateral "Shenshu" (BL23) and manipulating them for a while, the needles were then retained for 15 min, when, the mild moxibustion was performed at the same time. The treatment was conducted once daily, 5 times a week for consecutive 4 weeks. After the treatment, Morris water maze test was used to detect the animals' learning-memory ability. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot were respectively used to detect the number of positive cells and protein expression levels of JAK2, STAT3 and SOCS3 in the hippocampus tissue.
Following modeling and compared with the normal control and sham-operation groups, the average escape latency was significantly prolonged (<0.01), and the number of the original platform crossing and the residence time in the platform quadrant were significantly shortened in the model group (<0.01). The numbers of hippocampal JAK2- and STAT3-positive cells and expression levels of hippocampal JAK2 and STAT3 proteins were significantly increased (<0.01), and the number of hippocampal SOCS3-positive cells as well as the expression of SOCS3 protein significantly decreased in the model group relevant to the normal control and sham-operation groups (<0.01). After the intervention, the average escape latency was significantly shortened (< 0.01), and the number of the original platform crossing and the residence time in the platform quadrant were significantly increased in the Acu-moxi group (<0.01), and the expression levels of JAK2 and STAT3 were significantly down-regulated and that of SOCS3 was considerably up-regulated in the Acu-moxi group relevant to the model group (<0.01)．.
Acu-moxi intervention can improve the learning-memory ability in AD rats, which is associated with its functions in inhibiting hippocampal JAK2/STAT3 signaling and up-regulating SOCS3 (a negative feedback factor) protein level.
探讨针刺加艾灸对阿尔茨海默病（AD）大鼠学习记忆能力及海马Janus激酶2（JAK2）/信号转导子和转录激活子3（STAT3）/细胞因子信号转导抑制因子3（SOCS3）信号通路表达的影响，以揭示其改善AD的作用机制。
将60只SD大鼠随机分为四组：正常对照组、假手术组、模型组和针刺艾灸组（每组15只）。通过向双侧海马微量注射β-淀粉样蛋白1-42（Aβ1-42，5 μL）建立AD模型。造模7天后给予针刺艾灸干预。针刺“百会”（GV20）和双侧“肾俞”（BL23），行针片刻后留针15分钟，同时进行温和艾灸。每日治疗1次，每周5次，连续治疗4周。治疗后，采用Morris水迷宫试验检测动物的学习记忆能力。分别采用免疫组织化学和蛋白质印迹法检测海马组织中JAK2、STAT3和SOCS3的阳性细胞数及蛋白表达水平。
造模后，与正常对照组和假手术组相比，模型组平均逃避潜伏期显著延长（<0.01），原平台穿越次数和在平台象限的停留时间显著缩短（<0.01）。模型组海马JAK2和STAT3阳性细胞数及海马JAK2和STAT3蛋白表达水平显著升高（<0.01），海马SOCS3阳性细胞数及SOCS3蛋白表达与正常对照组和假手术组相比显著降低（<0.01）。干预后，针刺艾灸组平均逃避潜伏期显著缩短（<0.01），原平台穿越次数和在平台象限的停留时间显著增加（<0.01），与模型组相比，针刺艾灸组JAK2和STAT3表达水平显著下调，SOCS3表达显著上调（<0.01）。
针刺艾灸干预可提高AD大鼠的学习记忆能力，这与其抑制海马JAK2/STAT3信号通路及上调SOCS3（负反馈因子）蛋白水平的作用有关。
