College of Korean Medicine, Daejeon University, 62 Daehak-ro, Dong-gu, Daejeon, 34520, Republic of Korea.
Clinical Medicine Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, 1672 Yuseong-daero, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34054, Republic of Korea.
Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 4;11(1):5128. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-84273-y.
Acupuncture has been widely used as a therapeutic intervention, and the brain network plays a crucial role in its neural mechanism. This study aimed to investigate the acupuncture mechanism from peripheral to central by identifying how the peripheral molecular signals induced by acupuncture affect the brain neural responses and its functional connectivity. We confirmed that peripheral ERK activation by acupuncture plays a role in initiating acupuncture-induced peripheral proteomic changes in mice. The brain neural activities in the neocortex, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, periaqueductal grey, and nucleus of the solitary tract (Sol) were significantly changed after acupuncture, and these were altered by peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The arcuate nucleus and lateral hypothalamus were the most affected by acupuncture and peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The hypothalamic area was the most contributing brain region in contrast task PLS analysis. Acupuncture provoked extensive changes in brain functional connectivity, and the posterior hypothalamus showed the highest betweenness centrality after acupuncture. After brain hub identification, the Sol and cingulate cortex were selected as hub regions that reflect both degree and betweenness centrality after acupuncture. These results suggest that acupuncture activates brain functional connectivity and that peripheral ERK induced by acupuncture plays a role in initiating brain neural activation and its functional connectivity.
针灸作为一种治疗干预手段被广泛应用，大脑网络在其神经机制中起着至关重要的作用。本研究旨在通过识别针灸引起的外周分子信号如何影响大脑神经反应及其功能连接，从外周到中枢探究针灸的作用机制。我们证实了针灸引起的外周 ERK 激活在外周蛋白质组学变化的启动中起着作用。在大脑皮质、海马体、丘脑、下丘脑、中脑导水管周围灰质和孤束核（Sol）中，大脑神经活动在针灸后显著改变，并且这些改变被外周 MEK/MAPK 抑制所改变。弓状核和外侧下丘脑是受针灸和外周 MEK/MAPK 抑制影响最大的区域。在对比任务 PLS 分析中，下丘脑区域是贡献最大的脑区。针灸引起了大脑功能连接的广泛变化，在针灸后，后下丘脑显示出最高的介数中心性。在大脑枢纽识别后，选择孤束核和扣带回皮质作为反映针灸后两者程度和介数中心性的枢纽区域。这些结果表明，针灸激活了大脑的功能连接，而针灸引起的外周 ERK 在启动大脑神经激活及其功能连接中起着作用。
